Leaving Home At Eight | Boarding School Children

The documentary follows four eight-year-old girls as they adjust to a new life away from their parents and their homes.

The parents have decided their children will be better off boarding in a private school, in this instance Highfield, one of the best in the UK. All coming from military families that are constantly on the move, every one of these girls parents decided that being in a stable environment as well as getting a top class education was the best way for them to grow up. But what kind of emotional strain does this put on both the homesick kids and their yearning parents.


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[luvghd]

The father who wanted his kids to go to boarding school because he went at 13 should have at least waited until his girls were 13 instead of sending them at age 8.

[SJanaS]

what's the point of having kids if you miss out on their entire childhood and have them raised by strangers.

[regoschuh]

To tell the child (who is already not feeling well) that their parents will feel too sad if she talks to them, makes her feel like it would be her fault that her parents feel sad. This is wrong…

[debbiedavis]

When the nurse tells April its really difficult for her parents to hear her distress....so now its the 8 year old child's responsibility to protect her parents emotions on top of everything she is going through !!8 years old is far too young to be separated from the family in this way and will cause a huge amount of trauma for the child.The parents should have taken into consideration the fact that they are an army family who would be moving around alot before having children

[rachaelbrown]

Stability is staying with loving parents no matter where they need to move

[Kaiandherfloof]

Sending your 8 year old to boarding school is crazy it’s just unnecessary emotional stress

[Itsthedramailoveit]

April desperately hugging someone else’s mum made me choke up. Then for that mother to turn her back 😢 I’d love an update on how their lives are now and how this experience shaped their future.

[hebybabygrobe]

I don’t think children are ever better off, being without their parents, I think moving as a family, is an adventure

[KathrynHolden-opxc]

This broke my heart. The feeling of abandonment has never left me and I’m in my 50’s. I vowed never to send mine and I never did. I love my kids far too much to make them feel like that 😢

[RLPiper]

For me, boarding school feels like a place parents send their kids so they dont have to deal with them.

[juliannebigler]

I don't know how this is legal. I wonder how many studies have been done on the longterm impacts on children who experience separation in boarding school. I don't think boarding schools for children under the age of 13 should even exist. This is a heartbreaking first world cruelty.

[gs-rcjz]

Italian here! 'Stop it or I send you to boarding school' was actually the ultimate threat my father said when me and my older sister weren't behaving well during our childhood.. I considered it so scary

[hebybabygrobe]

It’s not for April, she misses hugs! She is self soothing by sucking her thumb ! She even wants hugs from others sooo much

[abbyhillman]

Sandra--YOU are her stability. She doesn't need a consistent building, , she needs YOU.

[ashlieleavelle]

Parents are the primary influence. You can't send your kids away in their formative years and be upset if they turn out how you don't want. Kids need to be home.

[karijobb]

Childhood is so short, shipping children off to boarding school is ridiculous. Parents are supposed to be the role model for their children, not some random grown-ups/teachers. Unconditional love on a daily basis is so important. Family is important.

[ThisSideoftheNuthouse]

It broke my heart to see April happy to see Lottie's mom just to have a mom on campus and the mom refusing to hug April until she wiggled into her arms. These kids are desperate for familial affection that they will take it from a stranger. I could never send my child away so young. They are just not ready.

[Fazerella]

The mum who said she didn't mind boarding so much because she doesn't have to shout at her daughter to get ready or do her homework. So basically...you're happy not to parent anymore...

[dianegruber]

I could never do this. Parents and children belong together.

[Susanj]

I went to boarding school from age 10 to 16. Most of my friends parents were in the armed forces and were sent there because their parents moved a lot. My parents sent me there because they were busy with their business in Spain.
Even though I had a good education I don't have that emmense love feeling and bond for my parents. I think it's because I grew up seeing them only three times a year. I grew up into a cold person who finds it hard to show my love. I blame it on attending boarding school in those years and the feeling of being left there.