Friend passed along – in case others have not seen it –
Happens at day schools too…
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2016/04/notre_dame_hs_teacher_accused_of_fondling_student.html
Not much the media loves more than a prep school scandal.
I think what’s important is how the administration responds to things. I think how Exeter’s administration responded in this case that’s come to light seems to leave a lot to be desired.
Fessenden recently had an issue.
I think it would be useful to post cases here. I find myself a bit inured to it all. Somehow these cases seem far more shocking than the equally heinous cases in public schools…
Agree, happens everywhere…so disturbing on so many levels…
And I am not really clear about what constitutes appropriate responses to these many cases. I mean intellectually yes but the Horace Mann and St Georges cases are quite old. A portion of the Exeter incidents are twenty thirty years old as well. Yes wrong very wrong but times were different. I don’t know enough about what happened then verses now to judge. The Owen Labrie case is modern. In my opinion illustrative of the pendulum swung too far. Was it a distasteful situation yes. Should he be defined as a Sexual predator for his whole life , not in my opinion. (Statutory rape should be reclassified if the persons are under 25. If your kids can be on your health insurance until 25 and they can’t drink until 21 then statuary rate shouldn’t be punished like felony assault rape.). I digress.
The Duke lacrosse and UVA fraternity cases (both proven to be untrue) show the power females have now with regard to sexual assault/rape charges and the legal system. Not always fair. I only mention these cases to show how much times have changed from 30 years ago.
I think that the issue for prospective parents and students is how the school is handling the issue. It’s (IMO) unfair to fault a school for a single incident; every school will have had some less than favorable incidents in its past, as a google search will quickly find.
Having said that, I would be alarmed if a school basically swept an incident under the rug as is allegedly the case with one school that’s getting a lot of press on the subject these days.
I couldn’t agree more with @skieurope. Many–probably most schools–have had some issues with this in their history. Public or private, boarding or day, religious or non-sectarian–no group is immune although the fear-factor for parents is probably highest in a boarding environment.
The crimes are bad–terrible for the victims–but it’s the cover-up that gets to the nature of how an institution’s administration responds and whether the values they try to instill in their students are actually what they are willing to live by themselves. It’s easy to let someone “retire” and quietly go away. It’s hard to admit, publicly and transparently, what the transgressions were and how steps are taken so they do not happen to another child.
@Center, the Owen Labrie saga continues. http://virtueonline.org/owen-labrie-saga-continues-he-sits-solitary-confinement
His behavior and decisions demonstrate a nearly unprecedented degree of arrogance. I do not regard him as a normal teenager–he seems out of touch with the idea of consequences or responsibility, even after the events of the last two years.
I had at least some sympathy for Owen Labrie until the whole thing about his repeated violations of the conditions of his probation came out. Honestly, who could possibly be that stupid?
@Periwinkle …Well said. The willful violations of his curfew and the “defense” of it in court (in my opinion, no defense at all) is really stunning.
Re Owen Labrie. I know with this I agree. Almost seems like it sent him over the edge. He is still very young. I still have sympathy for him. I think the girl was not held to any responsibility for her very active role.
^Center: I think you are treading on some very thin ice with that statement…bordering on “she asked for it”.
Sent him over the edge?? Or more like the same disregard for others and for rules applying to him led to the incident that caused the charges in the first place and the continued string of bad decisions all along the way.
Just to be clear, my sympathies for him extended only so far as I thought the felony conviction was kind of ridiculous. If the underlying crimes were misdemeanor sexual assaults, the notion that you could be convicted of a felony for using a computer to arrange the assignation is just silly. I don’t think that’s the kind of behavior that the felony of using a computer in the commission of a sex crime was intended for. If he’d just asked her in person to meet, it wouldn’t have been any additional crime, but because he did the asking in an email, it becomes a felony.
Always been curious to me that a kid who certifiably did those things on the record presented himself such that St. Paul’s continually rewarded him with positions, excellent recommendations, and graduation commendations. If you agree with @Periwinkle 's “unprecedented degree of arrogance”, wonder just how and when that got ahold of Labrie. Talk about pride coming before the fall, but I think his whole senior year had to be progressively enabling to the crimes.
Let’s just say he was good at schmoozing with a lot of folks, especially up the food chain, a trait not uncommon to narcissists. Plus, the “Eddie Haskell” syndrome was in full force here. But not everyone bought into it, particularly amongst some peers. However, even amongst his detractors, I don’t think his arrogance was perceived to be as destructive and callous as it turned out to be.