Quote Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger View Post
Possibly, but I was referring more the discipline it instills in children. I was educated by the meanest collection of old curmudgeon's I've ever encountered, Lasallian Brothers. They had no tolerance for indolence, rebelliousness, or failure; and they made sure my parents understood that before I was accepted into their school. It was their mission to educate their students, and everything else including sports, extracurricular activities, and personal freedom was secondary to that.

I wasn't much of a troublemaker, but I remember one particular example of their methods which would never fly in public school. In my sophomore year, I had a very high average in English - so high, in fact, that I calculated that I could skip the final paper and still come out of the class with a B. So, on the last day of before summer break, I was asked to stay after class to discuss my failure to turn in the paper. I casually explained my position and my contentment with a B in the class, expecting an expression of disappointment and to be let go. As Brother McLaren explained, however, the assignment wasn't about earning points towards a grade, but about me learning the material, and my school year wasn't over until I had learned it.

As all my friends were headed off to parties and freedom, I was accompanied to the library where I worked on that paper until just after midnight as Brother McLaren looked on. After that, as my paper wasn't in a format suitable to turn in, I was taken to the computer lab and forced to type it, which lasted until well after 1:00 AM. Finally, I had to wait around while he carefully read it over several times, grading first for content and then for grammar. His grade? A-, marked down to F for lateness.

I hated that place, but I'm so very glad my parents sent me there. It taught me life lessons that go far beyond grammar and arithmetic. College and work have been more than simple in comparison.
There are so many pluses and minuses there, I don't know where to begin.