The Making of Them: The British Attitude to Children and the Boarding School System - Softcover

Duffell, Nick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0953790401 ISBN 13: 9780953790401

Publisher: Lone Arrow Press, 2000

Synopsis

At the dawn of the 21st century British society is still shaped by a private education system devised to gentrify the Victorian middle classes and produce gentlemen to run the Empire. Yet it is not on the political agenda. It is rarely the subject of public debate, and we remain blind to its psychological implications.

About this title

From the Publisher

Publisher and reviewer comments

"Nick Duffell's tender and ruthless analysis of the effect of boarding school life on girls and boys, both at the time and later in life, will strike many painful chords and unlock many painful memories. On almost every page one encounters a sentence, a quotation or an incident that prompts a mental, "Oh my God, yes!" This book should be read by everyone who was sent to boarding school, above all by those who barely survived the ordeal. " ( Angela Lambert, Former ITN reporter, columnist for The Independent, and Daily Mail, author of 8 books)

A remarkable new book which will be essential reading to anyone interested in the nature and culture of English, their education system, their attitude to children, and the psychological and social effects of sending their privileged sons and daughters away to boarding schools.

From the Author

Socio-historical and psychological reasons for UK boarding
At the dawn of the 21st century British society is still shaped by a private education system devised to gentrify the Victorian middle classes and produce gentlemen to run the Empire. Yet it is not on the political agenda. It is rarely the subject of public debate, and we remain blind to its psychological implications. Can we afford to go on ignoring this issue? Will we continue to sacrifice the welfare of our children to satisfy our antiquated social aspirations?

Why do the British still send their children away to boarding school? What are the attitudes underpinning this practice which mystifies foreigners? What does it mean for a child to be sent away from home and immediately have to survive in an unfamiliar custom-ridden world, without love, family life or privacy? Will it be ‘the making of him’, or will it be a trauma from which he may never recover?

In this thought-provoking book psychotherapist and ex-boarder Nick Duffell reveals the bewildering dilemmas confronting the boarding school child, and discovers a dark secret at the heart of the British psyche. Drawing on more than a decade of working with Boarding School Survivors, he describes the process towards living beyond ‘strategic survival’, and offers pointers towards a philosophy of education which honours the needs and the intelligence of the natural child.

The author:

Nick Duffell is a psychotherapist, trainer, and one-time teacher in a boarding school. His revolutionary therapeutic work with Boarding School Survivors has been the subject of a BBC 40 Minutes documentary, and numerous articles in the national press. He has been interviewed on television and radio and has written several articles on his work for newspapers and psychological journals.

Edition details

• Publisher: Lone Arrow Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0953790401
• ISBN 13: 9780953790401
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 325
• Editor: Bland Robert