“Pantsing”
It is one of the names given to the acts of pulling down a person’s pants in public.

Circle Hand Game
Created by a City College of New York’s Fraternity in 1929 it has been recreated in TV Series “Malcom in the Middle”

Wet Willy
The pranker wet his/her finger with saliva and then introduces the finger in to the ear of a distracted or asleep person.

Towel snap
A very common prank in communal showers in boy boarding school . Prankers twist their wet towels and hit the victim with them, usually causing pain.

Kick me
Probably one of the oldest pranks. A note, in which is written “kick me”, is attached to the back of the victim. The note can be reading another sentence as “I’m idiot” or “My girlfriend cheats on me”

Shoe Lacing
The pranker ties victim’s shoe laces together while the victim is distracted. When the victim tries to walk, he or she usually falls down.
As teenagers  and boarding high school students have been opening and keeping their profiles on social media services many of these “old” pranks  has evolved to multimedia jokes and they have come up with many new ways of laughing at his mates but we will tell you about it another post.

There are some notable examples that million of people have read:

“Nicholas Nickleby” serial comic novel written by Charles Dickens and first published during 1838 and 1839. Nicholas Nickleby is a young man who must support his mother and his sister after his father’s death.
Some of the best stories happens at a boarding high school.

“Jane Eyre” famous Charlotte Brönte’s novel was published in London in 1847. It is an autobiography and is written in a first-person narrative. Jane talks about her education at Lowood School, in this girl boarding school she meets her friends but also she suffer many privations.

“Goodbye, Mr. Chips” by James Hilton was written in only four days and center the story much on the schoolteacher or a public boarding school than in the students.

J.S. Salinger’s 1951 novel “The Catcher in the Rye” has been listed as one of the best novels in 20th century and it has been translated into world’s major languages. Its principal character has become an icon for teenage rebellion. This novel has been related to conspiracy theories on the media and it is said that many famous killers were collectors of different editions of the novel.

Boarding school is always a experience in life, most of times a good one, and those who spend some of their youth years there can forget that time and sometimes they get inspired to write so beautiful books.

As boarding schools are always unforgettable for those who spend there some years of their childhood and they are where a lot of funny, creepy or tender stories come from film industry has look in to them to make many movies during the last decades.
From the oldest ones as 1930 “Abschied” (Farewell) to the last year ” St. Trinitian’s 2 : The Legend of Fritton’s Gold”, which is placed in catholic boarding schools,  there are hundreds of films inspired by the brotherhood spirit of boarding schools.
Ones of the best known films set in boarding schools is “Harry Potter” saga which next movie world premiere is scheduled 2011. Altough it may seem that magic and spellings are the main part of the plot in fact  it is nothing but stories around a very special boarding schools in England.

“Madeleine”,  released in 1998, is based in children’s book series and tell the story of the title character and her child years in  girl boarding school. It’s a really tender film although school conditions has nothing to do with current ones.
Another film related to this educational institutions is the famous drama “Dead poets society”. You could remember  this 1989 Disney production  in which Robin Williams starrs as an unconventional and inspiring English teacher.
Last but not least I could not miss “About Bad Education”. Opening film in 2004 Cannes Festival. Almodovar takes a look at his own adolescence in a catholic boarding school in Spain.

Some reasons why boarding high schools can be a good possibility for students in these modern times are the following ones. First of all there are no interruptions. In the boarding schools they make sure that there will be no interruptions during the study periods of the children. Also the risk that the students skip classes with their friends is being reduced to almost impossible.

Furthermore their can be a bad influence on your child from friends or classmates which is a big problem in traditional schools. Boarding highs school students are always being monitored and it is made sure that they can’t do this stupid things. Moreover they can focus on their study habits, have no traffic problems because they stay in school and everything is made easier for parents. They don’t have to make up schedules anymore for who has to be where and who can bring him.

I am not saying that boarding schools are the ideal place for every student and that you have to send your children to these schools. But I think can be a valuable option which is worth concidering.

The parents in India believe that giving their children more space can help them develop and become more independent. But feel the need to spend quality time with their children; this is why this solution seems to work perfectly for them. Furthermore the children seem to be happy. It seems to educate them discipline and flexibility at the same time. They have the advantages of boarding schools while they still can be at home to be with their family and friends and this combination seems to work in India.

First of all there shouldn’t be any corporal punishment. Boarding schools cannot prevent children from ringing their parents or sending them a letter. Moreover they cannot deny medical or dental attention to the children, children cannot be fined over two third of their pocket money and there is a minimum distance between the dormitory and the beds that should be taken into account. Furthermore the school should have, and follow, an appropriate policy on responding to complaints from the children and their parents, schools have to provide a good range and choice of activities for the students after teaching time and each border should have one or more staff members to turn to when he or she has a problem.

But these new rules don’t change the fact that the number of children going to an elementary boarding school is lower than ever and according to the director of the Boarding Schools’ Association this has a lot to do with the way parents remember their past in these schools. According to her, boarding schools have to be twice as good as other schools nowadays.

So the schools are trying everything to change the lack of interest, but it seems that the prejudices towards boarding schools won’t be erased this easily.

The cause of this change was the negative report of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navy Pillay. During her annual visit, she criticised that the situation of the unemployed and poor gipsies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. She pointed out the worsening treatment of this minority.

By putting the children in a boarding school, the government wants to separate them from the life in their settlements. The Prime Minister marked there is no other option because today, many of the children are sent to schools for mentally disabled and suffer from racism. According to him, the schools are the only way to break the cycle of racism.

But what about the ethnicity of these children? When they lose contact with their homes, they lose contact with their parents and their culture. Is it OK for us to try and change everyone and thereby kill other cultures? I think that everyone who wants to go to boarding school should be able to go and the other way around. What do you think? Please respond on the boarding school blog.

I just wanted to start with that question because schools are made to give a complementary education to children. In my opinion, what you can give at home is more valuable and helpful. From the beginning on: the discipline, having conversations about real issues, showing respect and explaining that you have to enjoy life but  do this with care and conscientiousness. All of this is going to help children to understand different situations.

I do not want to say that only the parents are responsible for their kids, sometimes there are problems we cannot cope with on our own, but in some cases the institutions are not going to guarantee the change of behavior.

I’m a mother and I’m really impressed on how many advertisements you can find on websites who sale you “the best way to make your child behave”. If it were a box of cereals, it would help you to get thinner. I’m amazed by how special schools for troubled teens are increasing every day: now I think to myself “what it is going on?” Is it just a parent’s problem or is there something really happening with our society? Education system? At home?

Right now I find society cruel and materialistic. Our kids are trying to survive everyday things at schools that make them feel under pressure. As we all feel sometimes in our jobs  and even we have difficulties with handling. So Image haw children must feel when they try coping.

We all know the uncontrolled problem of the drugs to which our children can be very near at times. This is where I call for common sense that says that we cannot handle this alone. To send them away is going to work for a while but the social situation around them has not changed. The solution is not to keep them with us all their lives and isolate them from the world but sending them away isn’t the best solution either.  There are other ways…

Yes you can find specialists, boarding schools that are prepared to manage the tough situation; professionals who can help you out but I think you have to be sure to make that decision and let your common sense bring you part of the answer to help your children.