TY - JOUR
T1 - Hong Kong Boarding School Applications, High-Conflict Divorce and Strategic Diversion: is ‘Sending Child J Abroad’ the Solution?
AU - Erlings, Esther
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - As a former British colony, the option of a boarding school education remains an important part of Hong Kong’s educational framework. Whilst historically intended to provide offspring with ‘a proper British education’, reasons for sending children to boarding school are diversifying. This article presents a thematic analysis of reported cases in the Hong Kong family jurisdiction referencing boarding school or overseas education, aimed at uncovering motivations for sending children to boarding school. The analysis reveals two emerging themes in boarding school applications that are of relevance beyond the Hong Kong jurisdiction: first, the use of boarding school as a means to lift a child out of a high-conflict divorce environment, and, secondly, boarding proposals as a form of ‘strategic diversion’, where one parent seeks to relocate with the child and the other parent suggests boarding as a compromise. The article discusses the analysis’ findings, including from the perspective of the best interests of the child, which may be served by a child’s physical removal from entrenched parental conflict, but perhaps not by becoming a compromise-boarder.
AB - As a former British colony, the option of a boarding school education remains an important part of Hong Kong’s educational framework. Whilst historically intended to provide offspring with ‘a proper British education’, reasons for sending children to boarding school are diversifying. This article presents a thematic analysis of reported cases in the Hong Kong family jurisdiction referencing boarding school or overseas education, aimed at uncovering motivations for sending children to boarding school. The analysis reveals two emerging themes in boarding school applications that are of relevance beyond the Hong Kong jurisdiction: first, the use of boarding school as a means to lift a child out of a high-conflict divorce environment, and, secondly, boarding proposals as a form of ‘strategic diversion’, where one parent seeks to relocate with the child and the other parent suggests boarding as a compromise. The article discusses the analysis’ findings, including from the perspective of the best interests of the child, which may be served by a child’s physical removal from entrenched parental conflict, but perhaps not by becoming a compromise-boarder.
UR - https://heinonline.org/HOL/Index?index=journals%2Fchilflq&collection=journals
M3 - Article
SN - 1742-6618
VL - 34
SP - 61
EP - 80
JO - Child and Family Law Quarterly
JF - Child and Family Law Quarterly
IS - 1
ER -