Is Private School Or Public School Better for You?

There is a reason for both public and private schools to exist. While it is mostly your parent's choice where you go to school, you can still notice the pros and cons for later in life. Parents may choose to send you to public school because it's easier and less costly.

Parents may choose to send you to private school for religious, money, or educational reasons. There are good and bad things for both schools. Most of the time, the good outweigh the bad.

However, that may not be the case for some people. Kids have bad experiences at both schools.

Me, personally, I went to a private school almost my entire life. But the last few years were at an online school. So, I never went to an in-person public school.

So, my personal view-point in school is a little skewed towards one type of school. However, my siblings have always gone to public school. So, I have gotten to see the differences in experiences from my experience and my sibling's experience.

I hope my viewpoint does not anger anyone but opens up minds to a new understanding. And this is only my experience. Other's experiences may be completely different.

Private School:

I grew up in a private, Christian school. I went to the elementary and secondary campuses for the majority of my education. The last two years of my high school education was online.

But other than that, this is where I was. For the most part, the teachers are kind, compassionate, and understanding of most things. The principals were there for you, whether their discipline was effective.

Going on to discipline, that was the least effective thing in the curriculum. Being a Christian school, they believed heavily in forgiveness. Which is a lovely thought.

But, when you are disciplining a child for physical assault on another child, you'd think there would be more punishment. Their main thing was to pray, make them apologize, and make you forgive. But, in my experience, the bully would just become more aggressive.

The principal rarely contacted the parents or gave the child a real punishment. I rarely saw them get detention or a refocus or whatever. I am was very disappointed in their lack of care. I always felt let down by their system.

I know that students can't help what their parents do for a living. Some parents were very wealthy. Some were not quite as wealthy.

However, the students of wealthy parents more often than not were incredibly rude and entitled. When they didn't get their way, they would scream or be incredibly demanding. In high school, they were the ones who put the brand of their shoes over the well-being of their friends.

They decided that their Gucci purse was of more value than the girl with an off-brand purse. And the school loved the wealthy kids because their parents would often donate generous amounts of money to them. And, I understand that the school survives on tuition and donation money. But I often noticed favoritism towards the wealthier families.

For most Christian schools or churches, mental health is often disregarded or looked down upon. I remember a chapel where the school counselor insinuated that children with depression, bipolar, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc. came to be like that because someone committed a sin. Many students there suffered from mental illness, including me. The school counselor targeted me and my sister for our depression.

She made us feel worthless and not worthy of going to her school. Many of the other students said the same thing about her. She lied to my mother about something, and my mother caught her in the lie. All in all, she should have her license revoked.

Sex education is almost non-existent. There is a health class. There is a portion on it about the reproductive system.

However, there is no 'sex talk'. There is no talk about safe sex practices. They only teach abstinence.

It is understandable that they would teach that being a Christian school. However, they didn't tell us what contraceptives were. I didn't know what condoms or birth control was until a friend told me. The lack of sexual education seemed to put more students in danger of STDs or pregnancy if they chose to be sexually active.

Also, consent wasn't even a topic. It was taught that the wife must always give the husband sex whenever he wanted it. And the man is superior to the woman.

Which makes consent very confusing or triggering to some students. The female rape victims at the school almost never got justice. Because “He would never do that?

Why are you making this up?” Consent should always be serious, no matter the teachings on sex. And not about making non-virgins feel like they are worthless. Especially rape victims.

Public School:

I, personally, never went to an in-person public school. And I have nothing but good things to say about my public online school. They were understanding, flexible, and great teachers. I graduated there and I'm so glad I did.

As for in-person school, my brothers and some of my friends go there. The learning is typically less rigorous. The teachers can either be really laid back or really strict.

There are many public schools that are highly praised for their curriculum. The quality of learning isn't necessarily better or worse because it's public.

There is often more drug use and influence. From what I've seen, the higher the praise for academics, the more drug use we hear of. Many of the students are overly sexually active.

There is more crime. It's because there are no strict expulsion rules about it, unlike private schools.

Bullying happens at any school. But, I have noticed that bullying is typically more physical at public schools. More students come home with bruises and busted lips at public school. There are also more weapon threats in public schools.

Because I have little to no firsthand experience in public schools, I feel a little unqualified to be saying one is better than the other. For many things, it's about picking your poison. For public schools, the poison is about influences.

For private schools, it's about how the system makes you feel about yourself. And, of course, what school you go to is almost always determined by the parents. However, taking notes from your past can help your future. Your future in grade school, college, or your own children.

Me personally, I will never send my child to a private school. But I'm not exactly warming up to the idea of public school either. But there are so many schooling options.

You could always homeschool your child. Or enroll them in an online school. There aren't just two options.

Wherever you go to school, I hope this opened your eyes a little to what's out there and what goes on behind closed doors.