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Oprah's school rules too strict?
Categories: Fun & Activities, Education
Oprah Winfrey's new school for girls in South Africa sounds a lot like the boarding school my daughter attended for a few years during high school. The rules were strict, there was very little parent contact outside of weekly phone calls and letters. The difference is that my daughter's school was geared towards children who weren't doing so well in the real world and were in need of some emotional growth. The rules weren't intended to be punishment, but were designed to help the students focus on themselves without the distractions of the outside world.
I imagine Oprah is trying to do the same thing with the hand-picked students at her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy. Students there are allowed visits from four family members once a month and cell phones and emails are not allowed during the week. The rules will get even more strict in the future when the monthly visits are limited to just one family member at a time.
This has some parents comparing the school to a prison and threatening to remove their girls. One parent, Frances Mans, claims she was made to wait 30 minutes at a security gate before she was allowed to visit with her child. Some of the students are unhappy as well; using their phone time to complain to their parents not just about the rigid visiting policy, but also the lack of "treats" they are allowed.
While I am sure these girls do feel fortunate to have been chosen to attend this school, they must also feel a bit confused. Unlike the students in Christy's boarding school, these girls were admitted because they were doing well in the real world. What purpose is being served by separating them from the families who helped them accomplish that?
I imagine Oprah is trying to do the same thing with the hand-picked students at her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy. Students there are allowed visits from four family members once a month and cell phones and emails are not allowed during the week. The rules will get even more strict in the future when the monthly visits are limited to just one family member at a time.
This has some parents comparing the school to a prison and threatening to remove their girls. One parent, Frances Mans, claims she was made to wait 30 minutes at a security gate before she was allowed to visit with her child. Some of the students are unhappy as well; using their phone time to complain to their parents not just about the rigid visiting policy, but also the lack of "treats" they are allowed.
While I am sure these girls do feel fortunate to have been chosen to attend this school, they must also feel a bit confused. Unlike the students in Christy's boarding school, these girls were admitted because they were doing well in the real world. What purpose is being served by separating them from the families who helped them accomplish that?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Miss 3-13-2007 @ 5:18PM
If they don't like it they should go back to their huts, and make room for gracious students.
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Desiree 3-13-2007 @ 7:15PM
Or maybe Oprah's rich, fat self can stop using her fame to start up labor/prostitution camps for young girls. Seriously, what could be a good reason for keeping these girls away from their family and not giving them free access to phones or letters home? What is Oprah hiding?
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Miss 3-13-2007 @ 7:48PM
Desiree, maybe Oprah wants to keep 'em away from thei families cuz their "families" are huge, imbecilic tribes.
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Lindsey 3-14-2007 @ 1:31AM
I don't know too much about Oprah's leadership academy but it seems to me that this new school is similar in some ways to the Native American boarding schools set up in the 1800s to "civilize" the youngsters. In these schools, children were separated from their families and villages, sent to live at the schools, forced to speak only English, and only allowed to see their parents a couple of times a year if at all. Their families and native communities were seen as hindrances in the attempt to educate and "civilize" the children.
I believe that Oprah has good intentions. However, the education of these girls should be directed to produce informed young ladies who will one day be better able to serve their communities. The rules of this school seem to disparage the cultures and backgrounds of the students by not allowing them contact with their own family and friends.
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TBA 4-03-2007 @ 6:25AM
Oprah has good intentions and I do not have any problem with the school rules. There are still kids out there who are needy and will sacrifice anything to get to this school. Stop complaining and be appreciative or take your kid out of the school and put her in a public school or model c school. Oprah did not coerce any parent into bringing these kids to this school.The school rules in this school are not that different from the school of Inanda Seminary way back in 1980`s.
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Kayla 3-25-2007 @ 1:00PM
If Oprah doesn't intend on teaching those girls how to love who they are and what they are and where they come from then what is she teaching them? They are better in huts then in that school if that school wants to rob them of their family, culture and individualism. Why should someone be thankful for that?
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