# Public vs. private school - Is this a crazy way to decide? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-vs-private-school-is-this-a-crazy-way-to-decide/270320 "2004-10-21T01:30:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-vs-private-school-is-this-a-crazy-way-to-decide/270320/41 "2004-10-22T17:41:09Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > I won’t bother going to look up the study on the internet, but I know I read about a study a while ago that said kids who are active in sports – or any other healthy activity – are less likely to engage in risky behavior (sex, drugs, crime, etc.). Kids in sports also tend to make more friends and be a lot healthier. So I definitely don’t think that’s a bad thing to base your decision on. Kids who are doing something that is being monitored by responsible adults are, if nothing else, going to have less time to devote to “risky behavior” … I’m not sure the studies that have been done (what I know of them, anyway) have suggested even significantly that sports specifically are more useful than other monitored responsible activities in keeping kids busy. The health aspect is something of a no-brainer - if you’re exercising, you’re generally going to be healthier than someone who isn’t:) ---
**Author:** ![JamesCarroll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@JamesCarroll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JamesCarroll)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-vs-private-school-is-this-a-crazy-way-to-decide/270320/42 "2004-10-23T02:56:23Z")
> [@Plan B](#): > > Here’s the story. My fifth gader is applying to public middle schools right now. He will most likely be accepted to at least one reasonably competitive school which is pretty good academically. > > But here’s why we’re thinking of private school…Sports. That’s it. Now, some background. My son is a good athlete, not great at all. Perhaps if he put his mind to it he could be a decent high school athlete, nothing more. So we don’t have any illusions that he’ll be in the NBA or anything like that no matter what. But he really does enjoy sports an awful lot. > > But, if he stays in the public schools, he can count on going to school, coming home, doing homework, watching TV, and sports is limited to structured stuff with lots of adults around on occasional weekends. At the private school we’re looking at, he can stay after school and do structured or unstructured sports every day after school. > > Academics should be a bit better at the private school, and he’ll fit in with the kids at either place. > > Really, the only issue is cost. I’m reluctant to get into the exact dollars involved as that might highjack the thread, but let’s just say on the one hand that the private school is expensive, and on the other hand that if current trends continue, it’s money that we’d never need anyway. > > So, if we don’t do it, he spends another three years of his childhood with minimal sports… > > Comments? Send your kid to the private school for now. If the kid, at year 9 or 10, has a chance to get a scholarship then you might want to consider moving them into a large public school for the exposure. But if the kid is just OK keep them in private. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-vs-private-school-is-this-a-crazy-way-to-decide/270320/43 "2004-10-23T16:32:29Z")
I’m curious as to why you’re asking this question in mid-October. Hasn’t school already started for the year? Anywho, I’d take a tour of a few schools with your son and then try to determine which best matches his needs/personality. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-vs-private-school-is-this-a-crazy-way-to-decide/270320/44 "2004-10-23T18:51:17Z")
All I wanted to do was play football from the time I was 5. My parents always said I had to wait until high school to play, they were worried about injury. Well, by the time 8th grade rolled around, I was smoking cigs and hanging out with the burnouts. When I entered 9th grade I didn’t want to play football anymore. I wanted to be a dipshit kid and get in touble. Encourage him to play, and give him the oppertunity to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-vs-private-school-is-this-a-crazy-way-to-decide/270320/45 "2004-10-23T21:15:22Z")
> [@Plan B](#): > > Here’s the story. My fifth gader is applying to public middle schools right now. He will most likely be accepted to at least one reasonably competitive school which is pretty good academically. > > But here’s why we’re thinking of private school…Sports. That’s it. Now, some background. My son is a good athlete, not great at all. Perhaps if he put his mind to it he could be a decent high school athlete, nothing more. So we don’t have any illusions that he’ll be in the NBA or anything like that no matter what. But he really does enjoy sports an awful lot. > …snip… IMNSHO - school choice should be made on an academic basis. Sports should be the absolute last thing considered. Put him in the private school and enroll him in a good martial arts school. He will thank you for it for the rest of his life. Email me and send me your city and state; I’ll tell you if there is a school in the style I practice near you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/public-vs-private-school-is-this-a-crazy-way-to-decide/270320.md?page=2)