It shouldn't come as a surprise if these parents will be put in a house for the elderly instead of being taken care of by their children, when they get older.

any one else’s parents when they were younger go “stop misbehaving or i’ll send you to boarding school”😂😭

They all HAVE to do after school activities everyday. “No chance to disappear off on your own too much” this is an introverts nightmare omg 😭

I think 8-years-old is a bit young for boarding school. I didn't become a full time boarder until I was 15, and I absolutely loved it. But children that young really need their parents.

did anyone else find it super upsetting to see that when april’s mum couldn’t make it and lottie insisted she hang with her and her mum, that april kept trying to hug lottie’s mum and join in on group hugs, but lottie’s mum would either not extend her arm around april too or one time she even unwrapped aprils arms around her so she could only hug lottie. I understand she misses her daughter and wants to hug her, but if she’s so maternal surely she’d feel some duty to bring april in to and give her some sense of affection

I remember as a child asking my dad if I could go to boarding school and his response was "no" I asked why? He said "why would we have children and pay someone else to raise them for us?" Now as a parent I can totally agree with him. Sending a child to boarding school for years on end seems very unnatural, what exactly is you're role as a parent if your kids are only with you a few weeks of the year? You have "elite" schools that kids can attend during the day and come home like normal school. I don't get it

There's something messed up about young kids having to comfort each other because mummy isn't there.

so the young boy is going to grow up emotionally cold and detached. And the young girl is going to grow up with abandonment and self worth issues.

I think the school needs an on-site psychologist to help the kids cope with homesickness and separation. Saying things like "keeping them busy and getting them tired" seems like really unhealthy coping mechanisms. It's not dealing with the issue but repressing them. Also, frankly, I think 8 years old is a tad too young to be sent away to boarding school. I don't think they're able to fully comprehend what's happening and why they're being sent away. They should probably wait until the kids are at least 12 years old; sit them down and have a talk; and then involve them in the process of transitioning to life in a boarding school.

Aw the camera man trying to comfort the twins when they were left behind. I am glad he made an effort.

Keep them busy 16 hours a day so that they don't have time to deal with their emotions. That's outstanding childcare!! These children are taught to normalise the trauma of being sent away by their parents.

My goodness, children are little for such a short period of time. How could a parent not want to be with their child each and every day? You will never get those precious years back. Those days when my kids were little, were the happiest days of my life, and ones I will always cherish.

They should do a follow-up this year as its been 10 years since this came out where the kids and parents reflect on their experience.

Seeing the hurt expression on Miss King's face as she recalls feeling homesick everyday broke my heart. The pain she felt as a child is something that still affects her as an adult. And when she said her Mother never came, the feeling of abandonment for a child must have been soul crushing.

personally i would not want some random middle aged guy to be checking in on my daughter at night...

April's Dad has the emotional range of a teaspoon.

April's mom puts her husband before her children . It was heartbreaking to watch how April clung to Lotties mom when she visited and was pushed away so many times before the woman grudgingly gave her a quick hug.

I love how the little girl comforting the homesick one in the beginning gave her a hug and pulled her away from the camera so it wouldn’t see her crying❤ that’s a true friend right there

The mothers beating themselves up for being sad to be separated from their children is killing me. You are supposed to be sad when you are doing something so unnatural.

I think it’s so cruel that the children, whose parents can’t make it to see them, have to see the other kids getting to see their parents and be taken out by them while they are left behind. So very heartless, I couldn’t leave any of those children behind, I’d take them all out for ice cream.