https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... on-bullies
Many have expressed more pleasant memories of CH, but a lot of this rings true for me, for example:
I think that for at least 10-20% of the new pupils, boarding school is quite traumatic. Especially the first two years, especially for younger, smaller or more sensitive pupils, or anyone different in some easily mockable way. Looking back on it now, I realize I had actual trichotillomania, other pupils made fun of me for having a small bald spot on the top of my head due to it, and my Housemaster (Sutcliffe) decided it was caused by too many roleplaying games (rather than the more obvious and accurate environmental causes), and prescribed reading Ghandi's autobiography as a cure (!). I also enter remember entering weird, surreal, detached waking dreamlike states before bedtime for most of my 2nd form, presumably due to not eating enough...On my first night at boarding school, I felt entirely alone. I was shocked, frightened and intensely homesick, but I soon discovered that expressing these emotions, instead of bringing help and consolation, attracted a gloating, predatory fascination.