Starting from the fifth grade through my senior year of high school, I went to private school. They were Catholic schools to be exact. I remember going out in public in my uniform and a lot of people would make comments. They would make assumptions that I was rich or that I was snobby even though that was far from true. Those instances made me realize that there are a lot of misconceptions about private schools that people don't know about. So now, I'm going to debunk those misconceptions going off of my personal experiences.
1. "Wow you're so rich!"
This is probably the most common misconception, and it is definitely FALSE. People normally envision students who go to private school living in mansions, driving fancy cars and living extravagant lifestyles. In reality, that's far from the truth. A lot of students come from middle class families as well as families who are financially struggling. While there are wealthy students, they don't take up most of the school like they're rumored to.
2. "Oh, you go to private school? I heard everyone was stuck up..."
There are going to be stuck up people anywhere you go. You could go to any social setting and find at least one or two. When I went to private school there were definitely some stuck up people. I wouldn't blame being stuck up on the school though, but on the parents who raised the child. I made friends in private school and in my personal opinion, they weren't stuck up in the slightest.
3. "So you're a goody two-shoes..."
In every school there are good and bad students. Just because someone goes to private school doesn't mean that they spend their days studying or listening intently to the lesson the teacher presents that day. In high school, people got in trouble for misbehaving all the time. Everyday someone would get sent to the dean's office. I know I did sometimes (most of the time I got in trouble for being tardy to school, so not too bad).
4. "You're probably really smart!"
I mean, I would like to think I am. Just because I went to private school doesn't mean I am though. Where you go to school doesn't determine your intelligence, genetics do. I knew a lot of people who struggled in school and they just applied themselves more.
5. "Do you pray all day?"
For starters, not all private schools are religious based. It depends on the school. In my personal experience (at Catholic school), most of the time we would pray before class, but that was it. We also had a religion class and the occasionally had Mass. I'm also going to throw out there that you don't have to be Catholic to go to a Catholic school. I was Methodist and still went, but sadly it is more pricey for non-Catholics.
There are probably countless other misconceptions about private school that I'm leaving out, but these are the top five that pop in my head. This article is based off of my own personal experience and may not apply to every private school out there. Private school is definitely not how it's portrayed on TV. In the grand scheme of things, it's actually pretty normal.
