Tom Brown’s Schooldays

Giving or gaining an education 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 (modern private schools) were the primary vehicle (except for the family) for transforming boys into men through a strict daily regimen, vigorous academic expectations, and rough-and-tumble free play. Headmasters and older students maintained order and discipline and were revered.

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

Although the book is based on a real school under the consequential headmaster, Thomas Arnold, the author Thomas Hughes (a former student of the school) follows the life and development of a fictional boy named Tom Brown. The boy is representative of a host of young men who benefited from such schools.

Tom Brown began his school days at Rugby as a tender pre-teen. His father encouraged him to stand against bullies and say his prayers. We see Tom Brown grow up within the school’s thick culture, norms, and social life. He is awed by sixth-form young men (student leaders) who govern the school. He serves the older boys, makes friends, and struggles to maintain his honor against a bully, an evil older student, who holds him over a fire.

As Tom develops courage and leadership skills, he also becomes a rule breaker, jeopardizing his future at the school. The wise headmaster looks out for him and believes he needs a younger student to look after and guide, 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 mature leader. This book shows how it happened.

Today, parents face an even greater challenge in their quest to help their kids become responsible adults. There is delayed adulthood. Also, smartphones, social media, and now AI have made a generation of young people anxious and depressed. This is documented in Jonathan Haidt’s best-selling book.

What can be done? Children need more parental involvement, real-world experiences (and fewer virtual ones), a quality education, a Bible-believing church community, and physical challenges.

Tom Brown’s Schooldays paints a picture of what it looked like to become a responsible adult. It was not a perfect system. There were risks, difficulties, and bullies. However, the challenges, instruction, and experiences made many forever grateful.