Military School

ElisabethWhispers's Avatar
What are your experiences with military schools? Have any of you attended one? If reading about them on the internet, they seem rather extreme. No mommy hugs at the end of the day, at the very least.

Thoughts or opinions are welcomed. Thanks!

Elisabeth
Nitwitboy's Avatar
They are good if you have a child that wants the best for an education. The Military academies have a huge success rate for entrance into 4 year universities. They are much more difficult than a traditional high school. They also do not fuck around with the traditional liberalism associated with most city high schools. The day is structured to nurture discipline and education. The discipline a child learns will serve them well for the rest of their life. If you are dealing with a problem child, a military academy might not be the best choice. That scenario is expensive and usually does not work. Most people do not know this, but WestPoint, The Naval Academy and The Air Force Academy are three of the finest schools on the planet. It takes a Congressional appointment to get in and the education they receive is comparable to anything in the Ivy League sector. This can be said of most Military High Schools as it pertains to comparing to private high schools.
West Point takes 15000 applications a year, all by congressional recomendation. They accept ~1500 per freshman class. There is no better education than a US military acadamy.

My daugeter was accepted in 1998 but decided she would not care for military life. Wanted to ring her neck!
Are you talking about ones that parents often send their unruly kids to, or one of the service affiliated academies?
mansfield's Avatar
High School or College?

I know 4 guys who were sent to military academy high schools and all 4 tell me they would never consider it for their own children at all under any circumstance.

2 went to NMMI in Roswell, 1 to the one in Harlingen, and another one in the North East I don't know the name of.

I've never asked for specific reasons.
ElisabethWhispers's Avatar
Are you talking about ones that parents often send their unruly kids to, or one of the service affiliated academies? Originally Posted by slowmover
The unruly child one.

I worked with a very wealthy woman once who sent her teenager to a military academy after he was caught sneaking out and just being bad. At the time, I thought that it was the lowest level of parenting that I could imagine.

Never would have considered it. EVER. But with never saying never, sometimes I have these little daydreams. Just sometimes. And was curious about the actuality of the experience.

I don't know anyone who actually went to a military academy in high school. Now, I've known a few men who went to West Point, the Naval Academy and places like that. Funny. Strong men like that REALLY like women, sex and ladies like us.

But I was sincerely speaking of education below the college level.

Hugs,
Elisabeth
Nitwitboy's Avatar
I have seen a few instances of unruly children attending military high schools. It never works out EW. It just makes the problem larger.
TexTushHog's Avatar
A horrible idea, IMHO. I have a law partner who sent his kid to NMMI. Kid hated it. Got no education. And rebelled against the experience for the next 20 years. He was 40 before he started to get over it.
ElisabethWhispers's Avatar
For the record, the question was rhetorical in nature. I was thinking boarding schools and military schools in general. How do they actually pan out? There are girls that actually board at Hockaday. Of course, one could argue that is somehow different.

Elisabeth
Admiral Nelson's Avatar
SOME children thrive in the straightjacket disciplinary environment of a military setting. Those who are 'problems' can also do so--if the system is allowed to 'break' them in order to 'make' them first--and that conditioning holds--even with brief returns to the original environment that helped create the problem(s) in the first place. (IOW, no relapses.)
cptjohnstone's Avatar
They are good if you have a child that wants the best for an education. The Military academies have a huge success rate for entrance into 4 year universities. They are much more difficult than a traditional high school. They also do not fuck around with the traditional liberalism associated with most city high schools. The day is structured to nurture discipline and education. The discipline a child learns will serve them well for the rest of their life. If you are dealing with a problem child, a military academy might not be the best choice. That scenario is expensive and usually does not work. Most people do not know this, but WestPoint, The Naval Academy and The Air Force Academy are three of the finest schools on the planet. It takes a Congressional appointment to get in and the education they receive is comparable to anything in the Ivy League sector. This can be said of most Military High Schools as it pertains to comparing to private high schools. Originally Posted by Nitwitboy
well said,

I went through ROTC and was a DMG (Distingquished Military Graduate) which equaled a West Point commission. I did not know this at the time and blonde, my ex, did not want to see the world, my mistake. Collen Powell did well going thru ROTC. Point is, you learn to manage 100-150 students. Which when I interviewed for jobs came in very handy pic taken after the Kent State riots
PT-109's Avatar
I had the privelege of attending USNA for 2 years before I got the axe. It was a great, great experience. But the academics were brutal: 18 hrs a semester. And there's never enough time to study with all the musters, drill, parades, and sports.

The kids that get accepted to the service academies are all shit hot. And getting in isn't easy. USNA had 17,500 applications for 1250 spots; that's 14:1 for you math types.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_714962.html

As for unruly kids and military prep schools, I'd love to see some statistics. But I'm betting it doesn't work that well. Back in the day, when adulthood came a lot earlier, it may have worked well. But given the extended adolesence of our current society, I doubt it would work.

A better approach in my opinion is the "tough love" "you're on your own" approach. Let 'em fail. Do not rescue them. They'll quickly learn the lesson of consequences. Easy to say, but hard to do.
I went to a Military Camp each summer as a kid. I enjoyed the regimented activities EXCEPT marching at high-noon with a wool uniform on. I could have a great time, but they did indeed keep you in line.
Cheers!