Inspector Lynley Mysteries

[chessiegirl]

I was working on images for my Second Life store and decided I needed a little company so I switched on my little tv I keep next to my computer and saw that Mystery Theater was on. In case you don't know what Mystery Theater is, it's a program with episodes of different UK "mystery" or "detective" type shows and presented on Public TV. I admit I

Comments

[jigsawpig]

The world of English public schools is indeed a murky one, most people emerge from it with profound psychological damage. In later life they tend either to go off and achieve immense feats, such as mapping whole continents, and subduing native populations, or else they hide quietly at home, nursing their wide array of phobias and perversions.

It was a public school?

[chessiegirl]

I'm kind of confused about the whole boarding/public/private school thing you have over there. You mean you can have a public school that is also a boarding school? I've always thought public meant you lived at home and attended school during the day.

Re: It was a public school?

[jigsawpig]

It is a bit confusing, I agree. Basically there are state schools, funded by taxes, and private schools, where parents pay fees directly to the school. Many of these latter schools also provide accommodation, and are called 'boarding' schools, some don't, and are called 'day' schools, and some have a mix of day and boarding students. I am not sure where the phrase 'public school' came from, or what its precise definition is, but colloqially it is used to refer to the more expensive and old-fashioned, primarily boarding, private schools, often exclusively for boys. They were, and possibly still are, characterised by strict discipline, rampant homosexuality amongst both pupils and staff, and extreme levels of violence and intimidation, by staff against pupils, and by older pupils against younger ones.

Re: It was a public school?

[jigsawpig]

For what its worth, Tony Blair went to a public school, and Margaret Thatcher went to a state school. Make of that what you will.