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<p>Which is why recommendations are so important in the admissions process, and why the entire process is grueling. </p>
<p>I’m also puzzled by the “supervised” part. If your friend’s son is a day student, the school expects him to leave campus at some point. If he’s a boarder, he could get in serious trouble if he weren’t in the allowed campus areas, or if he accepted a ride from another student. </p>
<p>Do you think that high school students at day schools are supervised round the clock by their parents? Most of the parents of high school students I know are not home at the end of the high school day. The students are dismissed at the end of the day, but no one is checking that they all get on the right bus, or if they walk home to the expected house. By the end of sophomore year, many students can drive. They won’t necessarily choose to drive directly home, or off to the local orphanage for community service. Many will…but some won’t. </p>
<p>I was horrified to learn that students at our local public high school need a pass to go to the library or other parts of campus, unless they have earned “open campus” privileges, only available to juniors and seniors. Looking back to my high school days (looong ago), we did not need passes to access parts of our high school. Yes, some bathrooms smelled kinda funky at times. Guess what? The bathrooms at our local public high school also smell kinda funky at times. Restricting student freedom hasn’t improved student behavior.</p>
<p>Sending a child to a boarding school which has an honor code has advantages and disadvantages. IF your child has self-control, is sensible and trustworthy, he can take responsibility for his own behavior. If your child tries to break the rules, he may get away with it…but if he’s caught, the consequences can be disastrous. </p>
<p>Again, a “scandal” wouldn’t be a dealbreaker for me. I expect some students in any group to misbehave. The school’s reaction to a scandal could lead me to take a school off of our list of schools. I’m a terrible geek. If a school chooses not to follow its own rules, that’s a dealbreaker.</p>