Military school, I get, if the kid has become a discipline problem and needed a stronger authoritarian presence than I could handle...but would you send your kid away to a private academy - where they'd also live - solely because it's touted as being superior and you can afford it?
I wouldn't. IMO, this has an element of child abandonment, masqueraded as being 'for their own good.'
If I could afford it, it wasn't miles and miles away, and they weren't getting a good education in public school, I might consider it only if they wanted to go. There were numerous storylines about parents traveling all the time (Alexandra the princess, the girl who's father was an ambassador) so tucking the kids away at private school maybe made more sense if you were going to just constantly be yanking your kids out of school every few months, but the girls obviously didn't like it. Blair's father was never around it seemed, always traveling, but her mother was around. Natalie's mother was home. Jo's parents sent her for a better education, and she was getting in trouble if I remember right? But me personally, it would be like cutting off my arm or something! I know one day my daughter will move out on her own, that is the natural order of things, but that's different.
shareI don't know it could be said unilaterally that the girls didn't like it. I get the impression Blair started going to Eastland about the same time her parents divorced, and she seemed glad to be out of the line of fire, so she probably sees Eastland as a haven from her home life. Natalie tends to have a 'happy-go-lucky' attitude most of the time, and seems okay with wherever she lands, by and large.
Jo definitely didn't like it at first, but with her mom working several jobs to provide for them, and her dad in jail, it was the best option for her (she was getting into trouble at home, and her mom couldn't keep an eye on her due to their situation.) And Jo came to appreciate the opportunity she was given by being there, and realized that it had been in her best interests to go.
Given the nature of her parents' jobs, I can see why Tootie was in a boarding school, but I cannot figure out why they sent her to one in upstate New York instead of in the Washington, DC area. Especially given that her mother was prone to complaining that she and Tootie were virtual strangers. A boarding school in the DC area would have meant that at least they could have seen Tootie more often.
But of the four sets of parents, Natalie's are the only ones I really wonder why they'd send their kid to a boarding school an hour away. Her dad was a well-off doctor, and it was implied her mom was stay-at-home (and not the socialite that Blair's mom was) there were surely private schools closer to home, if they wanted a better education for their daughter.
I know the same could be argued for Blair's family, but they were old money and one gets the impression that they wouldn't know how to raise their own kids if their lives depended on it. Blair was probably better off at boarding school.
I don't know that I'd send my kids myself, unless it was an *incredibly* great school and they were considered extremely lucky to get in (and even then, I don't know that I'd want to do that). I have heard of boarding schools for not-rich kids in larger rural areas, where people are spread out further and getting to and from the nearest school is an issue--the kids stay at school Monday through Friday and go home on the weekends. But that strikes me more as necessity/practicality, as opposed to just not wanting to be bothered with your own kid.
The girls I was talking about not liking being there were Alexandra, the princess that kept running away from every boarding school she was enrolled at, and the ambassador's daughter that unfortunately ended up committing suicide. I wasn't too clear on that LOL! I think you're right that Blair at the time probably welcomed not being at home, with her parents getting divorced. I remember another show when her sister wants to become a nun, and she tells Mrs. Garrett she doesn't believe in God because she asked God to get her parents back together and it didn't happen. So Eastland was probably the best place for her to be. And you're right about Tootie also, why wouldn't her parents want her closer especially since her mother feels they are not communicating? Remember the time her dad wanted to yank her out because he misunderstood and thought Mrs. Garrett had been talking her into wanting to become a beautician? Geez. It's not Mrs. Garrett's fault you don't know what your kids want, you sent them away! Natalie's situation still doesn't make sense to me, but who knows, the character wasn't initially planned so they probably just had to come up with some story and that was the best they could do. Knowing her character, she probably cleverly came up with some story about how she would get a better education at Eastland than at home and her parents said "anything for you!"
I'm with you though, I would have a hard time sending my kid away unless she wanted to go, I could afford it, and she would get a good education. But still it would be hard! And certainly not because I didn't want to deal with my child. I had a hard enough time getting pregnant, I'm not letting go that easily! LOL!
It was Hollywood's way of promoting the yuppies
Look at all the 'wealthy people' shows that suddenly came on during this period
Different strokes
The Facts of Life
Webster
Silver Spoons
The cosby show
Dynasty
Knots landing
Most of these people were filthy rich---and we are supposed to like watching them. We are supposed to want their life. It was part of selling 'Reaganomics" to the masses.
The eastland uniforms are much fancier than the private school uniforms I currently see in and around my city today--simple polo/khaki. It was about status
That's true, there were a lot of shows at that time about "affluent" people. I can see those sorts of people sending their kids to a good school to get a good education. And I think a lot of the students had parents who also attended Eastland and the boys school, Bates I think it was? So of course they would continue the tradition of sending their own children there.
shareIt wasn't only about 'good' education, it was about status--what we now call the 1 percent.
We learned Jo had a scholarship and Blair's parents owned several companies under Warner Industries, but we never got into how the other girls paid for their education.
Today's private school uniforms can be bought at a Walmart...etc. But you would have to special order eastland uniforms from that school.