anorexia in Habs?

[Pushy Dad]

Strange question. There is nothing in the drinking water that makes the kids at any school more prone to anorexia, bullimia, bitchy-ness, etc etc. than another. Teenage girls are teenage girls regardless of school setting.

[BusyQueenBee]

I don't think it's a strange question at all. Girls can influence each other enormously. A healthy environment where girls are not obsessed with the way they look can have a different effect on a teenager than the opposite. Think of all the websites and blogs about self harming and suicide and eating disorders. They are terribly harming. I remember the chubby girls in my school having a hard time. I was skinny and good looking at that alone made me very popular. Very sad really. I place a lot of importance on the atmosphere and the friendships. Perfectionism and high attainment are linked to anorexia, so I agree selective schools are more likely to have more cases.

[Pushy Dad]

I don't think it's a strange question at all.... selective schools are more likely to have more cases.

If you say so. I will make a point of keeping my eyes open for all these anorexic Habs girls the next time I attend a concert there.

[Sallyltb]

I don't think it's a strange question at all. Girls can influence each other enormously. A healthy environment where girls are not obsessed with the way they look can have a different effect on a teenager than the opposite. Perfectionism and high attainment are linked to anorexia, so I agree selective schools are more likely to have more cases.

We rejected an academic pace at WGGS for Habs partly because we thought Habs was less pressurised than WGGS, Parmiters or any of the other schools we looked around. And now DD1 is in the sixth form, I can say we have not been disappointed.

The pastoral care at Habs is excellent, there is both a nurse and a counsellor who can be seen confidentially, the atmosphere is very supportive, there is no Speech Day, no public mentioning of marks or grades and girls of a variety of dimensions are friends.