Tom Brown’s Schooldays

School has never been easy, but in pre-Victorian England, schools were particularly challenging. Boys learned Latin and ancient Greek, read classical literature, attended chapel, and participated in sports such as cricket and rugby.

English public schools (i.e., private schools) were a primary instrument for helping boys become men through a strict daily regimen, challenging academic expectations, and rough-and-tumble free play. Headmasters and older students maintained order and discipline and were feared.

Rugby School is one of the oldest public boarding schools. Memorialized in the 1857 book Tom Brown’s Schooldays, it shaped the religious, moral, and academic imagination of generations of students.

The book features the famous headmaster, Thomas Arnold, but the author (a former student of the school) follows the life and development of a fictional boy named Tom Brown, who represents a host of young men who benefited from such schools.

Tom Brown began his school days at Rugby as a pre-teen. His father encouraged him to stand against bullies and say his prayers. We see him grow up within the school’s thick culture and social life. He serves the older students, makes friends, and struggles to maintain his honor against a bully, an evil student who, at one point, holds him over a fire.

Tom develops courage, yet he breaks rules, jeopardizing his future at the school. The headmaster shows mercy, believing Brown needs a younger student to look after, if he is to overcome his rebellious ways.

The book offers a behind-the-scenes look at how boys became men in the forge of an Anglican boarding school, where students received a classical education, as well as instruction in the Christian religion and gentlemanly conduct.

Tom Brown became a leader; the story shows how it happened.

Today, parents face a challenge in helping their kids become responsible adults. Smartphones and social media have made a generation of young people anxious and depressed. (This is documented in Jonathan Haidt’s best-selling book.)

Children need parental involvement, real-world experiences (and fewer virtual ones), an education, rigorous Bible instruction, and physical challenges.

Tom Brown’s Schooldays shows what this used to look like, revealing the blessing of academic rigor, high expectations, biblical instruction, and quality friendship. Although Brown experienced dangers and bullies, the hardship and instruction made him a virtuous man.