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Boarding school syndrome among Sri Lankans

12 Aug 2021

  • Study recommends school based transition programmes, orientation, counselling, peer support 
By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody Owing to negative childhood experiences, such as early separation from parents as a result of being boarded, in turn causing long-term psychological impacts on the child, and also on adult emotions and behaviours, a local study noted that psychiatrists should be aware of the boarding school syndrome when assessing adult patients.  This suggestion was made by Diyatalawa Base Hospital Consultant Psychiatrist A.S. Malalagama in an original paper on the “Psychological effects of boarding students in schools far away from home – A qualitative study of a sample of students referred to a psychiatry clinic from Central Sri Lanka”, which was published in the Sri Lanka Journal of Psychiatry 11 (1) on 18 June 2020.  Background studies  Malalagama cited H. Amarasinghe and P. Ratnayake, who observe in “Role of education in economic development: The experience of Sri Lanka” that owing to the improper distribution of human and educational resources among rural and urban settings, and the lack of efficient transportation systems, in the past decades, parents have been moving from rural regions to urban areas, in order to enrol their children in popular city schools. However, when they are not in a position to move to a city, they choose to board their children, in boarding schools or in private boarding houses, so as to gain access to urban schools. Here, the latter group of parents face practical transport related difficulties, which prevent them from visiting their children frequently at the boarding schools or houses.  However, it was pointed out that, as J. Schaverien notes in “Boarding school syndrome: Broken attachments, a hidden trauma”, that separation from parents and living away from home at a young age can cause grief and even depression in school children with bullying, ragging, discrimination, and punitive acts by teachers causing further distress. “Childhood loss of parent, lack of adequate parental care and adult depression” by A.T. Bifulco, G.W. Brown, and T.O. Harris notes that grief and depression are risk factors for self-harm in children and adolescents.  Hence, it is observed that children who have been boarded at an early age may present with psychological problems and adverse psychological effects later-on in life, with this cluster of long lasting symptoms and behaviours, characterised by maladaptive defence mechanisms and difficulties in intimate relationships, being identified as the boarding school syndrome as per Schaverien, who also considers the sudden and irrecoverable loss of primary attachments at an early age as the underlying cause of such (as noted in Schaverien’s “Boarding school: The trauma of the ‘privileged’ child”). In this regard, it has been noted by P. Bramston, and J. Patrick in “Rural adolescents experiencing an urban transition”, J.P. Connell, and J.G. Wellborn in “Competence, autonomy and relatedness: A motivational analysis of self system processes” and E. Deci, R. Vallerand, L. Pelletier, and R. Ryan in “Motivation and education: The self determination perspective” that when children are in the process of transitioning to boarding schools; their social, emotional, and academic well-being may be adversely impacted owing to the changes they experience.  Assessing local boarding school students  Considering the above, Malalagama pointed out that among the many school children from the Diyatalawa, Bandarawela, Nuwara Eliya, and Welimada towns who are referred to the Diyatalawa Base Hospital’s Psychiatry Unit for psychological problems, there is an increasing trend among adolescents who have been boarded for purposes of schooling, presenting with self-harm. Malalagama further observed that the majority of these students live away from their homes and are not frequently visited by family members.  Hence, Malalagama conducted a qualitative study, from among students between the ages of six and 18 years, who were boarded at schools in Diyatalawa, Bandarawela, Nuwara Eliya, and Welimada, who were referred to the Diyatalawa Base Hospital’s Psychiatry Unit by other medical units, schools, the law enforcement authorities, and who came to it on their own. A total of seven such students, all males, between 11 and 18 years, were interviewed between November 2018 and March 2019 at the study clinic.  Preliminary themes that were identified from the data pertaining to the psychological effects of boarding students in schools far away from their home, were missing the family environment or home (homesickness), wanting to go back home, feelings of loneliness, dislike of the new school or boarding house, not having friends in the new school, being ill-treated by the teachers or warden, physical symptoms (such as feeling sick), not wanting to continue schooling, not being able to perform well at school, feeling sad, fearful or anxious, entertaining ideas of self-harm or ending one’s life, exhibiting help-seeking behaviours, experiencing bullying or ragging, and showing anger towards one’s parents after being boarded.  The themes of missing the family environment or home, wanting to go back home and feelings of loneliness, and anger towards parents after being boarded were combined and defined as grief over leaving home. The dislike of the new school or boarding house, not having friends in the new school, and not wanting to continue schooling, were defined as difficulties in transitioning to the new school environment. Concern about not being able to perform well at school was defined as worrying regarding the effect on scholastic performance subsequent to boarding. Ideas of self-harm or ending one’s life, and help-seeking behaviours were defined as crisis situations and cries for help. Ill-treatment by teachers or wardens, and the experience of bullying or ragging, were defined as the experience of emotional abuse.  The mean age in the sample was 13.4 years. In terms of the distance from the students’ home to the boarding school, the nearest was 24 km away while the farthest hometown was 204 km away. At the time of the conduct of the interviews, the duration spent at the new school ranged from one to seven months, with the average being 3.6 months.  Missing home  A prominent theme that emerged from all participants was that of missing home, parents, siblings, the home environment, best friends, and the previous school. The grief was expressed as anger, which in a majority was projected towards their parents.  “I often remember home. It was difficult without the parents being close to me. I remember how I played at home, and how I learned at my village school, which made me sad,” a respondent had noted. “I think schooling at the village was a luxury. That environment is familiar to me, and the teachers know me well. Sometimes I feel angry with my parents for bringing me here. I thought, why are they trying to keep me away from them?” Malalagama cited “Boarding school syndrome” by S. Partridge, which notes that when children are sent away from home at an early age, they may suffer significant trauma due to the sudden and often irrevocable loss of their primary attachments, mainly parents. Partridge explains that whereas in the context of the home environment, families tend to adapt to the changes a child undergoes throughout the course of its development, in the context of a boarding school, the situation is reversed, as it is the child that has to adjust to a rigid system. Furthermore, Partridge explains that such persons during adulthood may experience a generalised sense of depression, broken relationships, and marital or work-related problems which are a result of the distress originating from the losses and broken attachments that they experienced early on in their childhood.  Adjustment difficulties  Another prominent theme was difficulties in adjusting to the new school environment and this experiencing of an adjustment reaction during the initial stages of the changing of schools was seen in all the study subjects. The majority of the students disliked the new school and/or the hostel. The most common reason identified for this situation was the difficulty in engaging with one’s peers or building relationships with one’s peers, as they felt that the students in the new school were different from those at the previous school to the extent that they were less friendly and helpful, and more self-centred. “Students of the new school are not that friendly. They are not willing to lend their books. I felt that they are much cleverer than me and that I am weak,” another respondent had stated. Malalagama pointed out that, according to J.H. Newcom and J. Strain’s “Adjustment disorder in children and adolescents”, this adjustment-related reaction can be considered a normal reaction, while C. Smith and B.E. Carlson's “Stress, coping and resilience in children and youth” explains that the severity of the experience may however be influenced by factors, such as the resilience of each child and the nature of the change they have to undergo. That said, K.M. Canley and D. Jovanovic emphasise in “Developing an effective transition programme for students entering middle school or high school” that such a transition to a new school can be an anxiety-inducing experience, which can in turn affect their ability to cope with a new situation.  Anxiety over academic performance  Yet another theme that emerged among both parents and students was anxiety and worrying about the diminishing of academic performance after being boarded. The most common reasons students attributed with regard to this situation was having to work in the English medium, faring less well compared to the other students (an aspect of competitiveness), and staying away from home.  As per Malalagama, the decline in scholastic performance after being boarded at a new school could be due to an adjustment disorder or depressive symptoms presenting following the change in scenery. On the other hand, that anxiety alone may lead to lower grades and decreased academic motivation when experiencing stress due to numerous changes, has been noted by G. Scoliers, G. Portzky, N. Madge, A. Hewitt, K. Hawton, E.J.D. Wilde, M. Ystgaard, E. Arensman, D.D. Leo, S. Fekete, and K.V. Heeringen in “Reasons for adolescent deliberate self harm: A cry of pain and/or a cry for help? Findings from the child and adolescent self harm in Europe (CASE) study”.  Risks of self-harm  A total of four students presented after deliberate self-harm by way of ingestion of paracetamol (used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain). They had mild or moderate depression subsequent to enrollment in the boarding school, while one had social anxiety disorder. Self-harm had been commonly attempted to obtain help or to change their circumstances, such as their intent to be taken back home by the parents and to gain the parents' attention to the difficulties faced by them when they were away from home. These students were from hometowns that were more than 100 km away from their new schools, and had been enrolled in the new school from one to three months prior to the incident. A total of two who had overdosed had not been visited by their parents since admission to the boarding house. Significantly, these four students were found to have a moderate risk of suicide. “I thought that if I took an overdose of paracetamol, my parents would come to take me home. One of the students from this school took an overdose and was hospitalised. He was fine. Nothing happened to him. I didn’t know that an overdose of paracetamol could kill you, but I knew that you would be hospitalised if you did so. I wanted to scare my parents, so that they would know that I can't stay here,” one of them had said. As Scoliers et al. observe, deliberate self harm can be a form of a cry for help among adolescents. Therefore, the failure on the part of the school authorities and the parents to identify this distress experienced by boarded students, coupled with the strict rules in the boarding houses that suppress expressions of distress, Malalagama explained, contributed towards this distress emerging as deliberate self-harm. The risk of repetition of the same behaviour during future crisis situations, A.S. Malalagama, S. Tennakoon, and D.R.R.A. Abeysinghe mention in “Validation of the Adolescent Suicide Assessment Protocol - 20 to Sri Lankan adolescents” is a high possibility, while depression due to early separation from parents may also increase this risk, as found by L. Zhengkui, L. Xinying, and G. Xiaojia’s “Left too early: The effects of age at separation from parents on Chinese rural children's symptoms of anxiety and depression”.  Instances of abuse  A less commonly reported, nonetheless important theme was the experience of abuse. A total of three students revealed various forms of emotional abuse by teachers or peers, including facing negative comments on their origin, being that they are from a rural area, or about not being fluent in English.  “One of the teachers used to make bad comments whenever he saw me. He says that I am not behaving up to the standards of the school. One day he asked me a question and when I couldn't answer, he scolded me in front of all the students, criticising me for coming from a rural school,” related one of the survey's respondents. In this regard, Malalagama cited P.E. Mullen, J.L. Martin, J.C. Anderson, S.E. Romans, and G.P. Herbison’s “The long term impact of the physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children: A community study”, which points out that emotional abuse by school teachers can cause significant negative consequences in the psychological and personality development of children, as such forms of abuse may result in the child perceiving new attachment figures who are around them, as per Partridge, as being unsafe. None of the students reported any physical or sexual abuse.  Proposed solutions  Malalagama noted that the study’s findings suggest that children and adolescents who are boarded away from home may undergo various deleterious psychological effects. Therefore, the perceived benefits of studying in a popular school with educational advantages whilst being boarded, need to be balanced against the long term, adverse psychological effects caused by damage to primary attachments during an early age. As Partridge has elaborated, even though a majority who learn in such schools eventually achieve significant social status, a certain proportion of students may experience long lasting effects on their emotional, cognitive, and behavioural patterns which may in turn negatively affect their relationships, occupations, psychological well-being, and also place them at risk for developing psychiatric disorders. Thus, Malalagama called on the education and health authorities to standardise the education system so as to provide equal opportunities for islandwide children. Moreover, Malalagama also added that parents and educators need to be informed of coping strategies to assist children to deal with the grief of leaving home, and to incorporate methods of preparing the children to be away from home by involving the children in the said decision-making process, educating them on homesickness, establishing reliable modes of correspondence, and encouraging them to make new friends.  The US is a success story in this regard, where comprehensive and extensive transition programmes have resulted in the significant reduction in academic failure and dropout rates, as per G. Bottoms's “Improving schools are trying new approaches to raise the achievement of struggling students. In opening doors to the future: Preparing low achieving middle grades students to succeed in high school”.  Hence, it is high time that Sri Lankan schools provide new students with orientation, counselling, and peer support to help in making the transition from home to school as smooth as possible.


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