Nick Clegg Says He May Send His Kids to Private Schools. Will YOU?

Nope, mummy and daddy shouldn't be able to buy you an education. If they can't instill a good work ethic and give you the motivation to work hard wherever you go, and have to fob you off to a boarding school to do so, it shows far more about them than it does about us working class people

One thing I've found with private school children is that they rarely know the value of money - they've never had to work a day in their life, they can literally throw money away, and the sad thing is they'll probably never learn either I may not be able to afford "the best" education for my children but I'll make sure they know the importance of working for your money and not expecting everything to land in your lap.

Nope, mummy and daddy shouldn't be able to buy you an education. If they can't instill a good work ethic and give you the motivation to work hard wherever you go, and have to fob you off to a boarding school to do so, it shows far more about them than it does about us working class people

One thing I've found with private school children is that they rarely know the value of money - they've never had to work a day in their life, they can literally throw money away, and the sad thing is they'll probably never learn either I may not be able to afford "the best" education for my children but I'll make sure they know the importance of working for your money and not expecting everything to land in your lap.

shouldn't be able to buy you an education.

Yes in an ideal world. But you try abolishing the private school system, which has happily been going about its own business for hundreds of years, long before the notion of public schools existed.

I would love to live in a university without private school students / marbles in their mouth / rah rah accents and attitudes. But it's not going to happen

I agree though, the privately educated often don't know the value of their education.

How about clothes, cars or houses ?
Perhaps we should all have free clothes, cars and houses provided by the state ?

Paying for private education is like paying for a car or a jacket that you value.

If I have children I reckon I will if I'm in the position to afford it. It would be unfair not to afford them the same opportunity as I had. There's less of the wrong crowd hanging around at private school as well, so I would be less concerned about discipline and the rest of it..

If I have children I reckon I will if I'm in the position to afford it. It would be unfair not to afford them the same opportunity as I had. There's less of the wrong crowd hanging around at private school as well, so I would be less concerned about discipline and the rest of it..

As for kicking them out for crap grades, if the school gets the cash, they won't care.

Well.. I went to a grammar school, which had none of the 'wrong crowd', it was free and elitist, and I hated it.

I think this notion of the 'wrong crowd' needs to be taken out and beaten with a stick. There is no 'wrong crowd' in life, just crowds that you don't want to be a part of.

Not true at all. Eton/Harrow have reputations to maintain. I assure you.

If YOU have kids, will you do so too? And would you encourage your friends to do the same?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article4748815.ece

The wrong crowd exist in private schools - they just have more money to buy their drugs.

Well.. I went to a grammar school, which had none of the 'wrong crowd', it was free and elitist, and I hated it.

I think this notion of the 'wrong crowd' needs to be taken out and beaten with a stick. There is no 'wrong crowd' in life, just crowds that you don't want to be a part of.

I guess it depends - I remember the bad crowd at my school being quite petty little deviants - smoking a bit of weed or whatever - they were unlikely to go stabbing people or getting involved in anything serious.. Bastards - but harmless nonetheless..

There needs to be more scholarships really, and realistic ways of picking out the best and brightest from the mediocre rich, and the hard-working poor. There is a huge injustice in the number of struggling working class families that just cannot afford, cannot support, or do not realise the potential of, sending their genius kids to attend university.

Worst still.. there is a working class culture of acceptance of their ignorance, at least in my area.. they do not aspire to go to university. They might be smarter than most of the people there, but even then it's just not socially accepted, and is seen as weird and uncool amongst their friends. There's a stigma in achieving academically. There is a shame in being overeducated, or even high school educated.

It's the opposite amongst the overpriviledged, who go to uni. just for something to do.. to party more.. they don't even care what they study, they just want the university hoodie.

A wide discrepancy.

As for kicking them out for crap grades, if the school gets the cash, they won't care.

Yeah, I wouldn't define the occasional weed smokers as a 'bad crowd' but not one that I'd encourage my own kids to join!

ha ha - 'marbles in their mouths'

Another advantage of a 'state' school (god I hate that term), is you grow up with a mixture of backgrounds - life experience if you like. I can't help but feel private schools are a bubble away from reality where a majority of students are from wealthy families and sadly see us 'state' school students as a class below them.

I don't deny the standard of education is better in private schools and from what I hear, the teachers have more time for you. However, I feel a comprehensive high school is an education in life and not just in how to pass exams!

I think those 'gifted and talented' children who get themselves into private schools via scholarships rather than just cold hard cash are fantastic though and really do deserve private schooling.