Private or public school?

I think that generalizing about this stuff is pretty pointless. It is easy to see that different people have had different experiences with different sorts of schools. It really depends on the area as well as the person and the institution.

 

I went to a small private high school and many of my friends went to public school in the same affluent area and these were some of the differences I observed. Firstly, my school was all boys and had a jacket and tie dress code. Although I hated it at the time, we had none of the usual distractions. My friend's school was an absolute fashion show. Girls AND guys (remember this was the disco era) were constantly trying to outdo each other with their outfits, hairstyles and other nonsense. Also, in a small private school environment it is much more difficult for a problem student to slip through the cracks. As an example, I vividly remember being at another school's weekend dance and one of my friends was drunk. Well, come Monday, the principal of MY school was calling my Dad at home to tell him that I was at ANOTHER school's dance WITH someone who was drunk. (Jeez, can you get any more attenuated than that?). As other people have pointed out, as a result of this environment, my academic skills were so rigorous and focused that the discipline required in college, law school, and the real world was already second nature to me. Not to say none of this cannot be achieved in a public school but a private school simply removes many of those inherent obstacles to learning encountered in public school. Just my opinion