Private schools used for cultural quarantine

[Phteven]

I'm exactly the type of person that this study reflects, but I would argue that race is not the significant factor here but the academic performance of the schools. The fact that schools that are largely comprised of migrant communities generally perform poorly is a whole new thread!

The opposite is also true. There was a big fuss in Sydney a few years ago because former students of a selective school (which is the only Public GPS school in Sydney) felt that their children should be given preference over other students. One of their concerns was that the character of the school was being changed because so many of the students came from non-English speaking backgrounds. Most of the best performing schools in the HSC in NSW are public selective schools which have high populations of migrants. One of the only private schools that is regularly placed highly in the HSC results is a Muslim school with a large migrant population. If you take a look at the photo opp with the Premier every year a large percentage of the high achievers are non-Caucasian.

[nothing2lose]

I think there is such a thing as socio-economic cultural quarantining to protect your kids from bogans.

Nothing to do with race whatsoever.

It is likely my DD will go to a private school because most of the public secondary schools in this area are full of ferals.

Am I quarantining her from their influence? Absolutely.

[Maruschke]

I think there is such a thing as socio-economic cultural quarantining to protect your kids from bogans.

Nothing to do with race whatsoever.

It is likely my DD will go to a private school because most of the public secondary schools in this area are full of ferals.

Am I quarantining her from their influence? Absolutely.

I want to do that too, BUT I don't want DD1 to go to a cultural (and religiously [is that a word? lol]) homogeneous school. She needs to learn about the diversity in Australia and around the world. How to achieve that baffles me slightly ...

[nothing2lose]

Well, my area is so WASP that it hurts. More likely to have diversity in the private system around here.

[Phteven]

TBH I have never thought about the racial profile of the secondary school I want my boys to go to. I have my eye on it because it's a selective school with a great academic program. If they don't get in then it's off to the local high school. Since it's in the middle of the Embassy district I assume there will be a few diplomat's children there.

[Maruschke]

TBH I have never thought about the racial profile of the secondary school I want my boys to go to. I have my eye on it because it's a selective school with a great academic program. If they don't get in then it's off to the local high school. Since it's in the middle of the Embassy district I assume there will be a few diplomat's children there.

I have considered Montessori for this reason. I did some consulting work for the Faculty of Education in the place where I work and that's what piqued my curiosity about it all. I like the idea of educating my daughter about the international community we live in. And to be clear, I'm not saying other people don't want this, I'm just saying that something specific triggered me to go looking for this.

[sushee]

Trill, your post made me laugh so much. And yes, I agree, who would openly admit to it? I think it plays a part but there will be all sorts of reasons to do it in the parents' head aside from racial quarantining, most likely. But I think the end result, though, is the same.

[smallmum]

My four daughters go to a small catholic school. About 100 kids.
With that 100, their is two gay couples, an african, 4 philippines children and two crotians. For such a small school (private) that's quiet a large number of different cultures.
I included the gay couples as for catholic ed I found it quite different.
(Im not homophobic,I couldn't care aless as long as the kids sent picked on) All the students are friends and bullieing is almost non existsnt.

[Maruschke]

I think it's important to note that the model underpinning that report is not on the individual level but the community level, so it's not actually suggesting that individuals who send their children to Private Schools are all racists. Though if you read the paper, they do give an example of a parent who was quite O.o in what they said. But it's about community level attitudes, and I do think there is an element of racism in our community. Futher, it's not even saying that cultural quarantine is the sole explanation for the division we see, and if you look at the results, and could split up what "causes" this division, it's only a small percentage anyway.

[fionas]

I haven't read all the article and I haven't read all the responses but since when has that ever stopped anyone

Just looks like one of those studies that reaches a conclusion and then another conclusion is drawn. Like the article in the Herald Sun the other week that said that parents were dumping their kids at shopping centre play areas because the cost of childcare had gone up. No evidence whatsoever for the latter part of that statement.

No doubt the stats are true, significant yada yada yada but that doesn't make the parents racist, just means they want their kids to go to schools where they will have a better chance of academic excellence. Kids whose first language is not English are not as likely to do well. Not rocket science, not racism. I would have a problem sending my kids to a school where English wasn't the first language for a significant proportion of pupils. It's the language thing not the kids' skin colour or cultural background that would affect my choice.

[sushee]

Kids whose first language is not English are not as likely to do well. Not rocket science, not racism. I would have a problem sending my kids to a school where English wasn't the first language for a significant proportion of pupils. It's the language thing not the kids' skin colour or cultural background that would affect my choice.

Actually lots of schools with higher migrant density are high performing schools. It is the case in WA, where 2 of the top 5 state schools are situated in high immigrant populations. Migrants don't automatically translate to lower performance in school, nor do they always equate to lower socio-economic areas. So to say that parents don't send their kids to a high migrant density school because of lower performance doesn't actually stack up.

[Trillian]

I think that this would happen a lot but if you ever asked some people if thats why they chose a particular school then they would say no because how can you say it without coming across all wrong?

My SIL would do this for sure - she lives in a town with a large Indigenous population, and they are mostly townie bogans - along with all the white bogans, so it's not so much that they are Indigenous, but that they are of a particular socio-economic status. So she will more than likely send her kids to the local Catholic school, which isn't private, but because you have to pay it prevents a lot of the bogans from going there. But then she doesn't like catholics so she's torn about sending them there too. Her only other school options is in the next town 1 hour away. She just hates people in general though and nothing is good enough for her boy so she'd be better off homeschooling

[nothing2lose]

Where do the bogan Catholics go?

[Astrid]

I think that this would happen a lot but if you ever asked some people if thats why they chose a particular school then they would say no because how can you say it without coming across all wrong?

My SIL would do this for sure - she lives in a town with a large Indigenous population, and they are mostly townie bogans - along with all the white bogans, so it's not so much that they are Indigenous, but that they are of a particular socio-economic status. So she will more than likely send her kids to the local Catholic school, which isn't private, but because you have to pay it prevents a lot of the bogans from going there. But then she doesn't like catholics so she's torn about sending them there too. Her only other school options is in the next town 1 hour away. She just hates people in general though and nothing is good enough for her boy so she'd be better off homeschooling

I have had fun with this type of stuff in the past. One parent, who was one-eyed private school, and very anti a particular local school that was in her catchment zone, would have state the most bizarre reasons for choosing a private school. Finally one day, she let out the term "socio-economic", to which I replied "so poor people send their kids to that other school then?" She kept quiet then (will say I only had fun with her, as she would often have a good friend in tears about her choice to send her children to a public school).

[~clover~]

I think there is such a thing as socio-economic cultural quarantining to protect your kids from bogans.

Nothing to do with race whatsoever.

It is likely my DD will go to a private school because most of the public secondary schools in this area are full of ferals.

Am I quarantining her from their influence? Absolutely.

TBH, this is me. Its either a small public school, or private for me for this reason. I've not lived in an area where there are many emigrants, but I don't think that would sway my decision nearly as much as the type of people who's kids attended that school.

My excuse - I don't want my 9 year old daughter asking to go to so & so's house, then having to come up with an excuse as to why WITHOUT letting my child know the real reasons. Drug dealers/alcoholics etc... I've grown up in area's where parents lock their kids outside while they get high. I've seen a 14 month old & 2 year old wandering the streets coz they were locked outside alone. We knocked on their door, tried to open it. 20 minutes later the father comes out looking for them.

[Floweryfields]

You know there can be 'ferals' in private schools too right? I'm not sure what people class as 'feral' - but thinking of my local private school, there are certainly families who don't have alot of money, families who don't always wear shoes in public, maybe aren't the cleanest or most politely spoken.

Drug dealers and alcoholics aren't limited to income or socioeconomic standing exclusively either, I know of several very well off business people who smoke plenty of dope and send their children to very exclusive schools.

I understand where you are coming from with the influences on your children and choices made for schooling to try to avoid this, but I do find the implication that private schools are free from such influence quite, well, snotty. That choice is certainly not racist - but I am sure there is some 'ist' to describe it.

[Trillian]

You know there can be 'ferals' in private schools too right? I'm not sure what people class as 'feral' - but thinking of my local private school, there are certainly families who don't have alot of money, families who don't always wear shoes in public, maybe aren't the cleanest or most politely spoken.

Drug dealers and alcoholics aren't limited to income or socioeconomic standing exclusively either, I know of several very well off business people who smoke plenty of dope and send their children to very exclusive schools.

I understand where you are coming from with the influences on your children and choices made for schooling to try to avoid this, but I do find the implication that private schools are free from such influence quite, well, snotty. That choice is certainly not racist - but I am sure there is some 'ist' to describe it.

Roberta Williams' daughter doesn't go to public school

I often joke with Mum that the private school/rich kids can just afford a better class of drugs It does not matter where you send your kids there are always going to be kids and families that do not align with your own ideals. My MIL for instance is very pro-private school and when we were looking into it for DS, we considered sending him to DH's old school - Kinross Wollaroi - but there would be a huge student population that comes from overseas now - not migrant children, but children of wealthy asian families who want a quality education for their children and indeed they are high achievers! The other problem is that you will have wealthy people sending their rather dodgy kids to private school so they don't have to deal with them. The school that we hope to get DS into next year for high school is a selective agricultural government boarding school and people we know are also planning on sending their son there next year too but not because their son has an interest in Agriculture like our DS does, but because he is a total delinquent that has been suspended more times than you can count on two hands and will more than likely end up in prison at some point in his life. He is the youngest of 5 boys and they haven't brought him up - they have dragged him up and they have pretty much washed their hands of him and want him away in boarding school out of sight, out of mind. They don't know what to do with him so they are sending him away and making him someone elses problem.

[~clover~]

I never said private schools were free of those sorts of people. My own dad was the local pot dealer & sent us to the Catholic school. But the point is, to me, that if people care enough to pay for their kids education when there's free education across the road, than they most likely care enough to actually look after their kids & provide for them.

That isn't my sole reason for my choices. The education, beliefs & morals the school holds also counts & as someone who attended a Catholic school, I am all for the way we were taught. I don't know that there's a huge difference between private & public education itself, but the Catholic sysem holds a set of values I believe in. I do not feel that being a religious school it was too pushy for us. I think' its good for kids to have faith in something.

I am probably a bogan/feral myself! BUT I care about my kids. I feed them. I clothe them & I know where they are at all times. I'm sorry, but how many people would fork out thousands of dollars a year for their kids education, but then get high til they pass out while their kids are locked outside?

Drug users & alcoholics come from all walks of life/socio economic status, but the ones who are plain feral, are at the bottom of the list & do not look after their kids properly. Not every lower class person is feral. I don't for a second believe I'm above them. I'm a single mother of 4 on the pension. So I'm on the same income status as them. But I make an effort to care about my kids. Some don't. And to me, how can they possibly care for my child if they can't care for their own?

Bugger it. Call me snobby. I grew up IN that life. My parents looked after us. ALOT of the kids in my parents social circle were not looked after properly. I don't see why I should allow my kids to see/hear some of the things I saw & heard. Education, while important is just a small part of their lives. If I can feel like I have some control over their safety because of the school I send them too, so what?

I have my reasons & I do what I feel is best for MY kids.