I don't have any personal experience with boarding schools.  So, my opinion may be narrow-minded, or even wrong.  But after reading an article in the Washington Post, my thoughts have been confirmed.  I have always viewed boarding schools as a parent cop-out.  I have never been able to understand the desire to send kids away from home to attend school, no matter how prestigious.  Now that I have my own children, I think the possibility is even more detestable.  Why have children if you are going to ship them off to be raised by their peers at the earliest convenience?  The article indicates that the students who attend these boarding schools are pleased to be there, some may even initiate the idea.  But after the novelty of being away from home wears off, don't you think those kids feel a sense of abandonment?  And then there's the research that shows that kids who eat dinner with their parents are less likely to be involved with drugs, alcohol, etc.  Some parents would argue that their fast-paced lives make it nearly impossible to enjoy the company of their children anyway, so why not send them away to a place where at least they can commiserate with others in similar situations?  I would argue that our lifestyles are choices and essentially the choice you are making is to put your career and social calendar before the happiness and health of your child.  Being a parent is a huge responsibility.  It is not easy.  It requires sacrifice, daily.  But at the end of eighteen years I want to know that I have done my best to raise a responsible, caring, generous individual.