Woodbury Forest
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What are some of your tops picks? We are seemingly looking for the same lax wise, but wouldn’t consider a right leaning school. We have looked into the lax programs at a good number of schools and would be interested in your thoughts.
I’m not aware of any truly right leaning schools, esp in the NE, which is fine. What would be ideal is a school that is as non-partisan as possible. I would also not be excited about a school that is fervently right wing.
my concern is that politics has it claws so deep into our society (probably with the help of social media/media) that we have gotten to the point where we define whether someone is a ‘good person’ based upon how they vote, what causes they support, and if they will tow the line in certain language cues, slogans, etc. The HS years are pretty important (IMHO) for developing inquiry, critical thinking, etc. I am concerned by what appears to be a movement to tell our young what to think rather than how to think. Not to mention what we know about peer pressure at this age.
All that being said, every single school we have looked at seems like a great place and would be a huge upgrade from our current local HS (which is certainly not immune from politics itself). I just hope that in an effort to be so inclusive (a noble goal), descending opinions do not morph into pariahs
I appreciate all the DM’s as well, TY
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I think this is less of a problem than you think. The slide towards ignorance in our society seems to have accelerated (and Covid hasn’t helped- do you really want to take medical advice from an NFL player instead of tens of thousands of doctors with actual clinical experience?) Huge swaths of our population believe that “numbers lie” (as if a doctored photograph on Facebook is “better proof”). Huge numbers of people believe in alien abduction, that JFK Jr. (who tragically died in a well documented plane crash) is still alive and is in hiding, etc.
I’d think that ANY school that had any rigor at all in terms of intellectual inquiry would be a huge positive for your kid. Left, right- kids are pretty good at holding their own with their peers if the environment supports fact-based analysis.
I think you’ve got MUCH more danger in the (former) “segregation academies” AKA private schools in Florida and the South than you do from Northeast boarding schools.
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I’m am sorry that you felt the need to explain yourself. I appreciate your explanation, and that totally makes sense. Didn’t mean mine to come off the wrong way, I was just genuinely curious about what you had found in terms of lax. We are not looking at all boys schools, but think that may be more what you are looking for. But I could be TOTALLY wrong. Just my thoughts!
No need to apologize whatsoever. I have found the discussion here to be extremely civil, helpful, and much appreciated
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I am with @blossom, this isn’t really an issue at boarding schools. I think the schools are looking at today’s climate and they are doing everything they can to counteract a lot of the current negativity. What I mean: they are emphasizing civil discourse, teaching how to assess the reliability of sources, how to make a fact based argument, etc.
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This link may be helpful:
I do not know if other boarding schools attempt to support these principles, but I think it says something wonderful about Hotchkiss.
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Agree, tY
Just a quick update. We have recently visited some all boys schools and I would say in terms of what we were looking for from a political/social involvement standpoint they seem to be much different than the coed schools. Much less political slogans and signs on campus. Did not seem particularly left wing, nor right wing. Seem to be focusing more on education, athletics, and less activism
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That’s really to be expected right? If you pack a school with kids who have the least to gain from activism it’s not surprising there’s little activism on campus.
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Why would you think they have the least to gain? Activism doesn’t apply to boys?? Boys do not care about politics or debate? Odd, as many debate Champs and student politicians in coed schools are boys. There are non-white boys at boys schools, as well as FGLI, and anyone can be interested in sociopolitical issues.
I do think boys schools often have a more explicitly pre-professional orientation which may appeal to those less interested in some types of social activism.
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Because it’s still socially acceptable to have prejudicial thoughts about boys. When I hear this type of anti-male rhetoric, I steer clear, especially if it’s from a school. Let these kids be kids without labeling and stereotyping them.
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I suppose it is a fair indication of the type of bigotry the kid may be exposed to at some schools, but still disappointed to see it on CC. Good luck, OP, and choose carefully.
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Parent of a boy here, cautiously trying to thread this needle.
I agree that boys get unfairly put into boxes. That said, it wouldn’t surprise me at all that all-boys schools are less political, which is not to say boys (or anyone) can’t take on causes that don’t align perfectly with their genetic makeup.
I don’t think it should shock anyone, though, that causes are often most populated by people who have been directly impacted by them. For example, fewer teen boys have been victims of sexual assault than teen girls or non-binary folks, per the stats out there, anyway. While I would hope it would be discussed and educational programs provided, I would be pleasantly surprised if there were boys’ schools out there that had significant activism on campus on the issue sexual assault prevention.
It reminds me of the speech by Cate’s graduation speaker last year. A Black woman, she observed and expressed her disappointment that the campus activism around women’s issues got more traction than BIPOC activism. But she said that on one level she understood, because simply there are more women than Black or Brown students on campus.
That is not to say cis White boys can’t be or aren’t supportive of BIPOC or women’s causes. Of course they can be. And are. But it makes sense to me that certain political issues would have less traction at all-boys’ schools, regardless of the political persuasions of the student body, and therefore there is less political activity overall. And my gut tells me that political activism is not a top reason why a boy would choose an all-boys’ school. Could be wrong about that.
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Is political activism a top reason for the choice of any high school?
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Yes. When OP mentioned “leftist”, I interpreted that to mean politically active on the left side of the spectrum. I thought that the entire premise of the thread, that there are kids who seek schools with the desired level of political activism for them.
There are schools that are known to have more politically active (i,e. “leftist”) cultures than others, and draw/repel kids accordingly.
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Because they CAN’T be political or advocate for equality (NOT for their genetic makeup). It’s labelled white supremacy or white privilege.
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And my kids prep school I found that the political left-leaning voices got louder and louder starting in 2015. Even a small number of SJW make the entire school feel like it’s political. But in all honesty in the Northeast most ultra rich (which is a sizable % of the prep school population) are republican (former guy doesn’t count), so you’d be surprised at how many high school kids come from republican families, but they are generally quiet about it at school so as not to get shouted down. Before 2020, you’d be surprised if you look at the mock elections right before the real presidential elections to see what the split is (very close).
I can see this at my daughter’s university also. If you follow the college on social media you would think they are liberal bastion: with tons of student-led social justice events. That’s not actually the case, it’s the staff and sometimes faculty that are constantly pushing that agenda (good or bad, not making judgements, just stating facts). She says the vast majority of kids on campus don’t care about politics or are right-leaning and just don’t want to talk about it. After covid, kids just want some sort of normalcy and fun and to stop fighting. So do I.
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I don’t understand what you are saying. Can you clarify, please?
Are you saying that there are all-boys schools that are white supremacist? Like as a school policy, students would be prohibited from expressing political opinions in support of say, Black Lives Matter? But support of say, Proud Boys would be ok?
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