Boarding
schools warp our political class – I know because I went to one
George
Monbiot
Like Boris
Johnson, I was sent away. These are institutions of fear, cruelty and trauma,
and they create terrified bullies
@GeorgeMonbiot
Thu 7 Nov
2019 06.00 GMTLast modified on Thu 7 Nov 2019 07.21 GMT
‘Early
boarding is based on a massive misconception: that physical hardship makes you
emotionally tough. It does the opposite.’ Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty
Images
There are
two stark facts about British politics. The first is that it is controlled, to
a degree unparalleled in any other western European nation, by a tiny,
unrepresentative elite. Like almost every aspect of public life here, government
is dominated by people educated first at private schools, then at either Oxford
or Cambridge.
The second
is that many of these people possess a disastrous set of traits: dishonesty,
class loyalty and an absence of principle. So what of our current prime
minister? What drives him? What enables such people to dominate us? We urgently
need to understand a system that has poisoned the life of this nation for more
than a century.
I think I
understand it better than most, because there is a strong similarity between
what might have been the defining event of Boris Johnson’s childhood and mine.
Both of us endured a peculiarly British form of abuse, one intimately
associated with the nature of power in this country: we were sent to boarding
school when we were very young.
Staff watched on with indifference – they
thought we should sink or swim (the same philosophy applied to swimming)
He was
slightly older than me (11, rather than eight), but was dispatched, as so many
boys were, after a major family trauma. I didn’t think a school could be worse
than my first boarding school, Elstree, but the accounts that have emerged from
his – Ashdown House – during the current independent inquiry into child sexual
abuse, suggest that it achieved this improbable feat. Throughout the period
when Johnson was a pupil, the inquiry heard, paedophilia was normalised. As the
journalist Alex Renton, another ex-pupil, records, the headmaster was a vicious
sadist who delighted in beating as many boys as possible, and victimised those who
sought to report sexual attacks and other forms of abuse.
Johnson was
at first extremely hostile to the inquiry, describing it as money “spaffed up a
wall”. But he later apologised to other former pupils. He has accepted that
sexual assaults took place at the school, though he says he did not witness
them. But a culture of abuse affects everybody, one way or another. In my 30s,
I met the man who had been the worst bully at my first boarding school. He was
candid and apologetic. He explained that he had been sexually abused by
teachers and senior boys, acting in concert. Tormenting younger pupils was his
way of reasserting power.
The
psychotherapist Joy Schaverien lists a set of symptoms that she calls “boarding
school syndrome”. Early boarding, she finds, has similar effects to being taken
into care, but with the added twist that your parents have demanded it.
Premature separation from your family “can cause profound developmental
damage”.
The
justification for early boarding is based on a massive but common
misconception. Because physical hardship in childhood makes you physically
tough, the founders of the system believed that emotional hardship must make you
emotionally tough. It does the opposite. It causes psychological damage that
only years of love and therapy can later repair. But if there are two things
that being sent to boarding school teach you, they are that love cannot be
trusted, and that you should never admit to needing help.
On my first
night at boarding school, I felt entirely alone. I was shocked, frightened and
intensely homesick, but I soon discovered that expressing these emotions,
instead of bringing help and consolation, attracted a gloating, predatory
fascination.
The older
boys, being vulnerable themselves, knew exactly where to find your weaknesses.
There was one night of grace, and thereafter the bullying was relentless, by
day and night. It was devastating. There was no pastoral care at all. Staff
looked as the lives of the small children entrusted to them fell apart. They
believed we should sink or swim. (The same philosophy applied to swimming, by
the way: non-swimmers were thrown into the deep end of an unheated pool in
March.)
I was cut
off from everything I knew and loved. Most importantly, I cut myself off from
my feelings. When expressions of emotion are dangerous, and when you are
constantly told that this terrible thing is being done for your own good, you
quickly learn to hide your true feelings, even from yourself. In other words,
you learn the deepest form of dishonesty. This duplicity becomes a habit of
mind: if every day you lie to yourself, lying to other people becomes second
nature.
You develop
a shell, a character whose purpose is to project an appearance of confidence
and strength, while inside all is fear and flight and anger. The shell may take
the form of steely reserve, expansive charm, bumbling eccentricity, or a
combination of all three. But underneath it, you are desperately seeking
assurance. The easiest means of achieving it is to imagine that you can
dominate your feelings by dominating other people. Repressed people oppress
people.
In
adulthood you are faced with a stark choice: to remain the person this system
sought to create, justifying and reproducing its cruelties, or to spend much of
your life painfully unlearning what it taught you, and learning to be honest
again: to experience your own emotions without denial, to rediscover love and
trust. In other words, you must either question almost nothing or question
almost everything.
Though only
small numbers of people went through this system, it afflicts the entire
nation. Many powerful politicians are drawn from this damaged caste: David
Cameron, for example, was seven when he was sent to boarding school. We will
not build a kinder, more inclusive country until we understand its peculiar
cruelties.
The
education of Boris Johnson, the UK’s new Prime Minister
By Study
International Staff | July 26, 2019
SOCIAL BUZZ
Many words
are ascribed to Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Britain’s new Conservative
party leader and Prime Minister who succeeded Theresa May in the UK’s top
government post.
He has a
monumental task ahead. His predecessor spent her last three years in office
maneuvering the country’s exit from the European Union – Johnson has less than
four months to do so before the final deadline set for October 31, 2019.
Supporting
this transition, like that of any job candidate, is Johnson’s education and
experience. For the latter, Johnson has three decades behind him in a range of
fields, from politics to journalism to presenter of a popular history
television show, The Dream of Rome. But we know him most as the two-time London
Mayor and later, as the foreign secretary under May’s premiership.
In both
posts, Johnson was described as “shambolic,” “clownish” and “a buffoon”.
Presiding over the 2012 London Olympics and unofficially leading the “Vote
Leave” campaign are pivotal points of his recent career, but it is his rumpled
appearance, especially his hair, and shenanigans that tend to steal the
spotlight.
But
analysts say his antics could have been cleverly calculated to capture the
public eye. In an age that has seen former reality show host Donald Trump enter
the White House, Johnson is said to be one of the same cut, presenting himself
as a ‘bumbling idiot’ to counteract his elitist upbringing. Compared to his
competitor Jeremy Hunt, Boris is pretty unforgettable, and so, we wonder
whether his ultimate victory was all a genius act to get into Number 10 Downing
Street…
Our early
education is one of the biggest influences that helps form our adult self.
Here, we take a look at Johnson’s education journey to see who Britain’s new
Prime Minister really is and the potential wider implications for the country:
1. European
School, Brussels I
The
European School, Brussels I is located in the legally bilingual municipality of
Uccle. Source: Shutterstock
Born in New
York City to British parents, Johnson’s childhood was global in nature,
following his parents’ education (his father at Columbia University and later
post-doctoral research at the London School of Economics; his mother at Oxford
University) and career, the family shuffled between the UK and US, starting
from Columbia University to Oxford University, then the World Bank in
Washington DC before moving on to the US state of Connecticut and later, back
to London.
At age 10,
Boris relocated to Brussels where his father, Stanley Johnson, was made Head of
the European Commission’s newly-established Prevention of Pollution Division.
Founded in
1953, European Schools refers to a network of private schools set up in EU
member states, providing children with a multilingual and multicultural education
at nursery, primary and secondary levels. It offers the European Baccalaureate
diploma, a higher education qualifiying certificate awarded to those who
complete coursework and exams for a minimum of 10 subjects and have full
proficiency in two languages.
The book,
Just Boris: The Irresistible Rise of a Political Celebrity, authored by Sonia
Purcell, describes “the clever young blond” and his time here:
“Meanwhile,
Boris spent two years in Brussels, learning to be a ‘good European’ and rapidly
becoming fluent in accent-less French. Although as an adult he has frequently
played down his gift for foreign languages – adopting when it suits the classic
‘Brit abroad’ assault on French vowels and syntax – he is virtually bi-lingual
and proficient in three more languages.”
2. Ashdown
House
Ashdown
House, a co-educational prep school in Forest Row, East Sussex, is one of the
country’s oldest. Source: Wikimedia Commons
After his
mother was hospitalised for a nervous breakdown, Johnson and his siblings were
sent to Ashdown House. The preparatory boarding school in East Sussex is
credited as the place that “played a large part in creating the Boris we know
today”. His recollection of his time there evokes an “unusually emotional”
reaction in him.
Corporal
punishment could explain why. Hearing “small boys being terrorised and
battered” outraged and distressed him, according to media baron Conrad Black,
who later employed him at the right-wing newspaper, The Spectator.
It was here
that the dishevelled persona was created. As a survival tactic (he was teased
for his Turkish roots and being a foreigner from across the Channel) he soon
adopted a startling change in character, one possibly inspired by PG
Wodehouse’s stories of a 1930s English eccentric who is bumbling but
“fantastically well-read”.
He excelled
in Greek and Latin, “outclassing” those who have studied the subjects longer
than he did. Later, he won a scholarship to Eton College.
3. Eton
College
Educating
20 former Prime Ministers, this iconic institution is described as “the nursery
of England’s gentlemen” and “the chief nurse of England’s statesmen”. With its
list of alumni including Princes William and Harry, Britain’s most famous
public boys’ school is also its most notable symbol of elitisim and the British
ruling classes. The ‘Curriculum’ page of the school’s website states:
“When a boy
leaves Eton, he will have five years’ experience of academic, sporting,
dramatic, artistic, musical and, perhaps most importantly, personal growth to
look back on, the greater part of the latter having been centred on his house
and the friendships he has made there. He will almost certainly go on to
university.”
David
Cameron
✔
@David_Cameron
· 24 Jul 2019
Congratulations
@BorisJohnson on becoming our Prime Minister. It is a great privilege &
responsibility - but behind that famous black door you will find the most
hugely talented officials waiting & wanting to help you serve the country;
I wish you well.
Martin
Cooper
@struthTruth
Another
Eton Mess in the making
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1
16:53 - 24
Jul 2019
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Cooper's other Tweets
With
current fees at £14,167 per half term – and three terms in a year – entry is
inevitably reserved for a select few. Boris joined Eton as a King’s Scholar and
went on to become an “all-rounder”, not exactly the smartest among other
Scholars, but ahead of non-Scholars.
While Eton
is attributed to be the grounds where Johnson’s flamboyant persona truly came
to be, he attained several academic achievements, too. He became a “formidable
debater”, won prizes in English and Classics and became editor of the school
newspaper, The Chronicle.
But his
many co-curricular activities soon got school administrators complaining about
him being late, not turning in work, being disorganised and his doubtful
“commitment to the real business of scholarship”.
Despite
this, he won a scholarship to read Literae Humaniores, a four-year course in
Classics (Latin and Ancient Greek), at Balliol College, Oxford.
4. University
of Oxford
Sky News
✔
@SkyNews
· 23 Jul 2019
.@JasonFarrellSky
looks at how Brexiteer @BorisJohnson ascended from eccentric student to the
UK's top job.
He says
there are "three acts" that made Mr Johnson the man he is today:
🎓 Oxford University, 💼 London mayor and 🇪🇺 Vote Leave
👇http://po.st/uti2gh
Becoming
Boris Johnson: His rise to PM in four acts
He is the
biggest pre-existing celebrity to walk into Number 10 as a new prime minister,
so at first this question might seem absurd - but who is Boris Johnson?
news.sky.com
Sky News
✔
@SkyNews
"From
Oxford University, Mr Johnson had developed his popular persona and learned how
to adapt to win - useful lessons."
How did
@BorisJohnson's university days 👨🎓 make him fit for the top job?
http://po.st/uti2gh
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8
17:48 - 23
Jul 2019
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News's other Tweets
After a gap
year teaching English and Latin at the exclusive Geelong Grammar School –
Australia’s version of Eton – Johnson entered Oxford in autumn 1983. This was
the year when former Oxford graduate Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, and Johnson,
the undergraduate, joined a “gilded” cohort who would later go on to dominate
media and politics.
His
contemporaries included former Prime Minister David Cameron, Foreign Secretary
Jeremy Hunt (a Magdalen College alum, who studied PPE), BBC political editor
Nick Robinson, Clinton press secretary George Stephanopoulos, US pollster Frank
Luntz and newly-minted Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove. May,
who he succeeded, was also an Oxonian.
He is the
fourth Balliol College-educated Prime Minister, following Herbert Asquith,
Harold Macmillan and Edward Heath. Balliol also produced literary giants such
as Matthew Arnold, Graham Greene and Robert Browning. It is notable that
Johnson chose to study Balliol, which, while known for its strong reputation
for Classics, is also known as a “haven for bright young Lefties instead of dim
hoorays”, an odd pairing given Johnson’s current right-wing tendencies.
Here,
Johnson co-edited the university’s satirical magazine, Tributary. He ran and
was elected secretary of the Oxford Union in 1984 and President of the Oxford
Union in 1986.
His tutors
remembered him as “a good egg”, destined for a first. However, he graduated
with a 2:1 and a deep-held disappointment for not achieving one.
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