World Leaders Suffering from Boarding School Trauma and Psychologial Distress

[PeterRS]

For centuries, the English - and initially most of the upper classes - sent their children as young as 6 away to be educated at private boarding schools. These, it was believed, taught self reliance, independence and provided an excellent education which state schools could come nowhere near. Above all it provided the beginning of what was believed to be success in life. That belief followed the English colonists to the boundaries of the world.

Beliefs! Where would we be without them? Only as each of us grows up most of us simply absorb the beliefs of our parents and their generation. In out later teens as we go out into the world and learn new facts, we may rebel against them. But they are almost always there subconsciously rooted at the back of our minds. And almost inevitably they affect our new forming belief system.

There is a hugely perceptive article in today's UK Observer that almost for the first time dispels this myth. By taking young children away from parental love, boarding school actually destroys many parts of a child's psyche. Essentially the article and accompanying film comes to the rather fightening conclusion. Could the world's present state of wars and disasters be partly a result of some of the world's business and political leaders being psycholoigically traumatised by their boarding school experiences? 

That may sound far fetched, but the article follows seven former boarding school pupils and discovers that each has had often quite major issues adjusting to their lives afer school. Typical of the comments -

 "There wasn’t time for soft interpersonal skills, like negotiation. It was obey the rules, or be damned . . . Everything was geared up to strip you of your identity."

"In my time boarding there were no incidents of sexual abuse, sadly plenty have those experiences. For me and many others, it was the abandonment, bullying and neglect, without being able to leave and rest, that left its mark. Psychotherapist Joy Schaverien identified the ABCD of Boarding School Syndrome: abandonment, bereavement, captivity and dissociation. Growing up in an institution without love, appropriate touch, surrounded by strangers – not all of whom are benign – sets you up for a life disconnected from your full emotional range. This is almost universal in my experience of speaking to hundreds of ex-boarders"

Of two former Prime Ministers of the UK, "Take David Cameron. He described being sent to boarding school at seven as 'brutal and bizarre' and recalled 'frequent beatings'. He lost a stone in weight during a single term. Tony Blair tried to run away aged 14, making his way to Newcastle airport in a bid to escape. There are so many of these stories. Charles Spencer, brother of Lady Diana, made a huge impact when he wrote of his horrendous time. Last month, Winston’s Churchill’s grandson spoke out."

"It was rarely aggressive and violent. Often, it was invisible. And there was no break or reprieve; no time to find comfort from family or community beyond the gates who understood what I was going through. I couldn’t make friends outside school – I had no chance to find my people. I was totally disconnected and alone."

Even if you do not wish to read the long article, do watch the second link, a short trailer for the movie "Boarding on Insanity". Realise, too, that it was not simply the English who were sent away from families to boarding schools. Rupert Murdoch, Mark Zukerberg, Reid Hoffman founder of Linked In, King Abdullah of Jordan, Sheik Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani the Emir of Qatar, the former dictator the Shah of Iran . . . the list goes on and on. In the film, Professor Joy Shavarien writes, "Boarding school syndrome is a symptom of serious psychological distress."

Plenty of families are dysfunctional in one or more of many ways. Were boarding schools any different? And could the boading school eperience affect the way our lives have been governed and affected in various ways? The answer appears to be a very definite "YES". 

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/apr/20/breaking-our-spirits-was-the-plan-the-lifelong-impact-of-having-gone-to-boarding-school

[Keithambrose]

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

For centuries, the English - and initially most of the upper classes - sent their children as young as 6 away to be educated at private boarding schools. These, it was believed, taught self reliance, independence and provided an excellent education which state schools could come nowhere near. Above all it provided the beginning of what was believed to be success in life. That belief followed the English colonists to the boundaries of the world.

Beliefs! Where would we be without them? Only as each of us grows up most of us simply absorb the beliefs of our parents and their generation. In out later teens as we go out into the world and learn new facts, we may rebel against them. But they are almost always there subconsciously rooted at the back of our minds. And almost inevitably they affect our new forming belief system.

There is a hugely perceptive article in today's UK Observer that almost for the first time dispels this myth. By taking young children away from parental love, boarding school actually destroys many parts of a child's psyche. Essentially the article and accompanying film comes to the rather fightening conclusion. Could the world's present state of wars and disasters be partly a result of some of the world's business and political leaders being psycholoigically traumatised by their boarding school experiences? 

That may sound far fetched, but the article follows seven former boarding school pupils and discovers that each has had often quite major issues adjusting to their lives afer school. Typical of the comments -

 "There wasn’t time for soft interpersonal skills, like negotiation. It was obey the rules, or be damned . . . Everything was geared up to strip you of your identity."

"In my time boarding there were no incidents of sexual abuse, sadly plenty have those experiences. For me and many others, it was the abandonment, bullying and neglect, without being able to leave and rest, that left its mark. Psychotherapist Joy Schaverien identified the ABCD of Boarding School Syndrome: abandonment, bereavement, captivity and dissociation. Growing up in an institution without love, appropriate touch, surrounded by strangers – not all of whom are benign – sets you up for a life disconnected from your full emotional range. This is almost universal in my experience of speaking to hundreds of ex-boarders"

Of two former Prime Ministers of the UK, "Take David Cameron. He described being sent to boarding school at seven as 'brutal and bizarre' and recalled 'frequent beatings'. He lost a stone in weight during a single term. Tony Blair tried to run away aged 14, making his way to Newcastle airport in a bid to escape. There are so many of these stories. Charles Spencer, brother of Lady Diana, made a huge impact when he wrote of his horrendous time. Last month, Winston’s Churchill’s grandson spoke out."

"It was rarely aggressive and violent. Often, it was invisible. And there was no break or reprieve; no time to find comfort from family or community beyond the gates who understood what I was going through. I couldn’t make friends outside school – I had no chance to find my people. I was totally disconnected and alone."

Even if you do not wish to read the long article, do watch the second link, a short trailer for the movie "Boarding on Insanity". Realise, too, that it was not simply the English who were sent away from families to boarding schools. Rupert Murdoch, Mark Zukerberg, Reid Hoffman founder of Linked In, King Abdullah of Jordan, Sheik Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani the Emir of Qatar, the former dictator the Shah of Iran . . . the list goes on and on. In the film, Professor Joy Shavarien writes, "Boarding school syndrome is a symptom of serious psychological distress."

Plenty of families are dysfunctional in one or more of many ways. Were boarding schools any different? And could the boading school eperience affect the way our lives have been governed and affected in various ways? The answer appears to be a very definite "YES". 

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/apr/20/breaking-our-spirits-was-the-plan-the-lifelong-impact-of-having-gone-to-boarding-school

However,  sex was available!