Boarding schools: effects on the mental health of Eskimo adolescents

Although simple environmental changes may temporarily reduce the rate of disturbance among students, the long-term effects of boarding schools may still be deleterious.

Abstract

Whether boarding schools undermine the mental health of Eskimo and Indian children has been a bitterly debated issue. The authors examined the effects of four representative boarding schools on 132 Alaskan Eskimo adolescents during their freshman and sophomore years. Forty-nine percent of the freshmen developed school-related social and emotional disturbances; 25% of these problems were judged serious. High levels of emotional disturbance were also found during the students' sophomore year. Although simple environmental changes may temporarily reduce the rate of disturbance among students, the long-term effects of boarding schools may still be deleterious.