Did you ever "move schools" as a child?

Anakraz

I am hearing a lot in the media lately from parents with young children being priced out of the Dublin rental market, logically you would think if you have no ties here (e.g. employment) then why not move down the country where rent is exponentially cheaper and there's an abundance of supply. Then this line is trotted out "My kids are very settled in their school here, they couldn't possibly move schools, etc". I have even heard this from families living in emergency accommodation (hotels) in Dublin city centre. I am usually left in a puzzled state of bewilderment, that someone would choose to raise their children in a hotel room for months at a time rather than face the prospect of *shock horror* moving outside Dublin.

Some background, my father worked in an area that required working 2-3 year contracts at a time in different parts of the country (Monaghan, Waterford, Galway, Dublin) so growing up I was in 3 different primary schools and 2 secondary schools. What happens is, week 1 you are the "new kid", weeks 2-3 you have a completely new circle of friends, week 4 it's like nothing changed at all. It didn't impact negatively on myself or my brother in any way, we are both quite successful now in adulthood and in stable relationships. If anything I think it shaped who we are today, and strengthened our personalities. It annoys me when I hear people so reluctant to face the horrific prospect of their children moving schools and even willing to face homelessness/emergency accommodation as an alternative? The skeptical part of my brain sometimes thinks it's the parents who don't want to move.

My question is, did you move schools as a child and were there any negative implications at the time or now as an adult?

Thanks

Sh1tbag OToole

I did twice, wish I had done it more often.

Keane2baMused

I moved school twice. If anything it benefited me. It helped me to become more sociable and I learned how to adapt to new situations quickly.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I moved after second class and it had no negative impact whatsoever. I think there's a lot of tosh from parents about the affect on kids of moving school. Many even go ballistic when a child gets split into another class within a school. "What about their friends?". Or sending them to a secondary school for no reason other than their friends are going to it. Kids adapt quickly

The Randy Riverbeast

Moved from US to Ireland. Was easy enough to make new friends, as the new kid you get a lot of attention and invited to join people.

Mr. CooL ICE

My family moved a lot and I was in 3 primary schools. My older siblings would have had more changes.

It sucked at the time, but I don't think it affected us positively or negatively in the long run.

RedXIV

Yeah I moved when I was 10, was devastated at the thought of it originally but in hindsight it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It challenged me in a lot of ways and I'm much the better for it. Although I do remember the fear of getting handed a Hurl for the first time in my school on the first day and thinking "....the hell am I getting into here?!"

I'm one of the families that will soon enough be priced out of Dublin and I can say I'd have no problem moving my kids to another school.

Mena

Twice in primary and three times in secondary. My parents worked in South Africa and we were moved around a lot by the company. If I'd moved in my final year or two I'd reckon it would have been pretty negative due to the close relationships (which persist cross continent and hemispheres to this day) I'd formed but on the whole it helped me grow as a person.

FortySeven

5 primary and 6 secondary. Terrible effect it had on me. I ended up walking out of the school system at 14.

myshirt

What the op is suggesting here is an ethnic cleansing of the poor.

Wow.

I truly thought you people were dead and buried, never to come back. Horrific views. What the actual f#ck... Im shocked..

FortySeven

myshirt wrote: »

What the op is suggesting here is an ethnic cleansing of the poor.

Wow.

I truly thought you people were dead and buried, never to come back. Horrific views. What the actual f#ck... Im shocked..

You've never met the poor, have you? :-)

Ice Maiden

It would make sense to do it, but I can see how it would not always be feasible for people to move, though - e.g. having to be near elderly parents/other family members, or needing to be near the other parent of their child(ren) if the couple have broken up. Or if their child has special needs.

myshirt wrote: »

What the op is suggesting here is an ethnic cleansing of the poor.

Wow.

I truly thought you people were dead and buried, never to come back. Horrific views. What the actual f#ck... Im shocked..

Is this what you do? Pop into a thread, feign shock at something that was never said, and then saunter off?

Liberosis

myshirt wrote: »

What the op is suggesting here is an ethnic cleansing of the poor.

Wow.

I truly thought you people were dead and buried, never to come back. Horrific views. What the actual f#ck... Im shocked..

That's a bit of an exaggeration. I think the OP was just trying to gauge the effect that moving town/school would have on children instead of making them stay in emergency accommodation. The latter would surely be a far more negative environment. IMO It would certainly be a valid reason to move if parents are struggling financially.

Penny Tration

Moved school a few times.

In junior infants, 1993, teacher thought it was cool to hit the kids with blackboard dusters and metal rulers, so I was moved to a Gaelscoil which I loved.

First class, moved to a different area so was moved to a new school. I was bullied mercilessly for being "posh" (ie I had a different accent, I wasn't posh).

Moved again in 5th class, so another new school. Beaten up several times for being "a brainbox" and "posh" (bad school in a very poor area, so I was considered very different because I didn't have a north Dublin accent and got good grades).

So yeah, wasn't really a positive experience for me. My older sister had the same moves, same problems til she kicked one of her bullies around the place :pac:

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Moved after 4th class because I was being bullied and the school was a small country school, no uniforms, no homework, no discipline. A three teacher school with a principal who smoked like a chimney in the boys bathrooms and who studied the racing pages in the newspaper more than actual school work.

The kids at the school were quite cliquey. All cousins/related/knew each other. I was the outsider and Had no cousins so was excluded and bullied a lot

Moved to a real school in 5th class and became more confident, came out of my shell, learned lots, did really well, made lovely decent friends I'm still friends with now.

Wish they moved me years before

sryanbruen

I MIGHT BE moving come August. I have been wanting to move out of my current school all year long. I was told back in November that I got a space. In January, I found out though that they mistook me as a 6th class student and was moving into 1st year. However, instead I was moving into TY. They said that the only opportunity for me would be is if somebody left and didn't come back in August. So I'll have to see 'til then. The benefit of this school I'm hoping of moving to is that it is a 2 minute walk from my house compared to the 1 hour drive to the current school (with rush hour traffic included). I still voted that "No, I never moved schools".

the_syco

Anakraz wrote: »

It annoys me when I hear people so reluctant to face the horrific prospect of their children moving schools and even willing to face homelessness/emergency accommodation as an alternative? The skeptical part of my brain sometimes thinks it's the parents who don't want to move.

I'm guessing that they want a very specific location, and are willing to use their children to bargain with.

beauf

It depends if you moved to a better or worse or the same quality of school doesn't it.

Lia_lia

Yes. I went to 4 primary schools in 3 different countries. Don't know really how it impacted me, sure I knew nothing different! I think spending all my school holidays between the ages of 8 and 14 in France with my Dad impacted me more. I hated going to France for the whole summer, never got to see my friends from school during the holidays. I remember bawling crying at the airport when I had to leave.

Think it impacted how I made friends big time. Once I started working part time I was allowed stay in Ireland and that's when I started to make proper friends and come out of my shell...

valoren

When I finished Primary school, I moved to a different Secondary School.

fg1406

I moved schools in primary school as I was attending a (Catholic) NS and I wasn't Catholic. An educate together school was set up in the town so I joined that school in the senior end of my education. The move itself was fine. It in fact widened my social circle.

Steppenwolfe

Between primary and secondary I went to 9 different schools in 3 countries. The positives were I learned to adapt to different situations and cultures easily. The negatives were I never knew what it was like to have a long term friend.