In our latest episode of 27 Pedestrians, we asked Aussies the question: are private schools better than public schools? Buckle. Up.
Cast your minds back to March, and you might remember the very same topic being discussed on Q+A. It was in response to a number of incidents from the past year, including students from Melbourne’s St. Kevin’s College shouting sexist chants on a public tram.
It opened up a wider discussion about private school culture, and how society sees students from either type of school.
So what did our 27 Aussies say? Well, they didn’t hold back.
“Nah,” Ash Kennedy, 19, said with a laugh. “Fuck private schools.”
“Hell to the no,” Ayeesha Ash, 27, agreed.
Ayeesha had a public school education and couldn’t praise it enough.
“I think we should invest more money into public schools because they’re public, they’re supposed to be for everyone,” she said, adding that public schools are a really good melting pot of different people.
“I think it’s so important people from all walks of life learn and grow together and school is where that happens.”
Claudio Fabiano, 24, was frank in his answer: “I think private schools are just a breeding ground for stuck up cocaine-addicted law students.”
Desmond Mase, who likes to keep his age a secret, had a diverse school experience in terms of education.
“It’s kind of outrageous the amount of funding and privilege private schools get,” Desmond said.
In saying that however, he couldn’t pick one over the other.
“I’ve been to a lot of schools, but I’ve got to say there are good teachers and bad teachers in every aspect of education.”
While the answers against private schooling were strong, some of our 27 Pedestrians acknowledged that private schools do have more opportunities. However, that doesn’t automatically make them better.
For Lacey-Jade Christie, 31, it isn’t a matter of private or public, it’s all about the education.
“I’m not saying private schools don’t give you advantages, they do, but there are so many other things to take into consideration,” she said.
“You can make the best of a public school education.”
Cody Gray, however, said she does believe private schools are better than public ones.
“I went to a pretty good public school and my partner went to a private school, but I do see the benefits of going to a prestigious school,” the 22 year old said.
Describing private school alumni groups as almost “cult-like”, Cody said those connections can come in handy down the line.
“Especially somewhere small like Adelaide, where everybody knows the schools.”
And 21-year-old James Emmanuel, or JamarzOnMarz as he’s otherwise known as, had this unreal answer:
“For me, I coped better in an independent school when all the confrontations were mental and it was like mental tricks,” he said.
“I mean, it wasn’t great for the mental health, but you know, in my experience of independent schools, nobody wants to fight, they’d rather torture you mentally.
“I mean, that’s much better than getting your ass beat.”
Want to read more about our 27 Pedestrians? Here’s a run-down of exactly who’s who. And you can subscribe to our YouTube channel (and never miss a video) right here.
