Sheltered Lives

"'You've been told about it. You're students. You're...special.'" -pg 68

Pages 66 through 69 contain the most interesting and puzzling material of the book so far. On page 66 Kathy begins to describe the little myth about Norfolk that Ruth made up and the students of Hailsham believed. The myth is yet another example of how the students of Hailsham were extremely sheltered from the outside world and were fairly clueless of places outside their isolated school. The only information they have about the outside is from what their teachers give them. Thus, they  make up their own stories to fill in the holes. What's really interesting is that they consistently believe them, even after they have outgrown Hailsham.

At first I thought this sheltered lifestyle that produced the fantasies like the one about Norfolk natural for a school like Hailsham. But on the page in the quote above, I began to think maybe this sheltered was intended. The quote above came after a discussion about smoking and how it was viewed as a cardinal sin by the students at Hailsham. When one of the guardians admitted to smoking in her youth, the students were shocked. However, the guardian made a point that it was a much bigger crime if one of the students smoked rather than the guardian's old smoking habit. Why are the students at Hailsham so special? Why are the so protected from any unsavory outside influences?