Today’s dysfunctional families and fractured communities make boarding school an attractive option again

Just when all progressive people could congratulate themselves that the boarding school ideal had died a natural death, along comes the nostalgic fantasy in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter.

Any child would find Hogwarts boarding school much more wonderful than Potter’s suburban “foster” home. But is JK Rowling really indulging in nostalgia for the past or sensing the future? Is it possible that, far from fading away, the boarding school is about to re-emerge as a viable solution to contemporary family difficulties?

Full article: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/nov/20/schools.uk5