<p>That was not a personal charge against Gates. As a hypothetical, if one of Gates's kids was in trouble for mischief, you can bet that he would do all he could to protect them. Any parent would, because we love our kids. So the rich will get off every time. Always have. Always will. Wake up.</p>
<p>He would do all he could to protect them... That separates with all but .00001% parents. Rich kids may get off with things ranging from a-z. Sexual offenses have not been as lenient.... There have been plenty, rich (sometimes even young) sex offenders...</p>
<p>Tell me, how many rich sex offenders do you know? 0? Not trying to be rude but I can tell you that in things as serious as sexual offenses rich kids can't pull as many strings. It's against the law, not just some elite schools rules. I can see it circumventing Groton's (and even then, it would be tough) rules, not the law.</p>
<p>Pan and Principalviola-</p>
<p>I understand that the both of you are having a basic dissagreement about the unjusts of society, but with how your arguement is going I don't see it ending any time soon. You both seem deadset in your opinions, and I doubt that your bickering is going to lead to any groundbreaking discoveries. Might I suggest taking the conversation to PM?</p>
<p>On topic: I hadn't really looked into Groton, but it's an amazing school. I, like everyone else, am shocked that they would let something like that happen to one of their students.</p>
<p>I don't think this should dissuade anyone from Groton, though. Of course everyone is bound to their interpretation of this event...</p>
<p>Sorry. You are right Lillium. It is remarkable how bright some of the kids on these threads are. I will quit.</p>
<p>Can someone give me the gist of what the boston magazine story was saying. I started to read it, but it's long as hell. Sounded interesting..but to long. I didn't get the whole Zeke Goldenboy stuff.</p>
<p>Principal: Its not about the law, it's about pulling the strings to make it look like the act never happened. Money can change peoples accounts of the story..I mean look at OJ. I'm not sure anything is worse than murder, in many people's opinion he got away with it. No way that happens if he wasn't a superstar football player who was rich.</p>
<p>Pan- Thank you for your compliance, and understanding. I'll also take the "bright" remark as an indirect compliment, thank you.</p>
<p>No matter how august and revered an institution is, the fact remains that criminal acts can take place within its confines. What I don't know from these posts is whether the school was ultimately held liable for the acts of the student perpetrators. Is there something more current? 2002 is a while back; the case must be resolved legally by now.</p>
<p>In any of these instances where wrongdoing has taken place, the response of the institution is telling. To those who think that the "players" don't get off lightly in many instances, I can only refer the wisdom of my mother in law, a survivor of atrocities of WWII, "The little one they hang, the big one they let go..." I too have seen this in other contexts.</p>
<p>Lillium,
Really off topic, but I assumed you were a parent!!!!!</p>
<p>Anothermom,
the school settled for an undisclosed amount. Exactly my point about buying silence. The plaintiffs lawyer is also known for cases against the Catholic archdiocese.</p>
<p>No, I'm very much a kid.
:]</p>
<p>And since you have posted about Miss Porter's, what is your take on the scandal there????</p>
<p>Now, my take on what's allegedly happened at Miss Porter's is that at any school one attends they are going to be "bullied" for anything about themselves that society does not deem "normal". That girl claims to have been bullied and called "retarded" because of her ADD/ADHD. I'm in no way discrediting the seriousness of ADD or ADHD, and that is certainly not my intent in this post. The thing is, if that girl was aptly controlling her disorder, and wasn't walking around shouting "I CAN HAS BE HYPER!" for her entire campus to hear, her disorder would have been between her and the school's faculty. Yet, if this girl was roaming around blaming all of her problems on her condition, then she was pretty much placing a sign on her back saying "I'm special".</p>
<p>Really, I empathize for this girl, and I've undergone my own problems with bullying in my public school. But I don't understand the full situation, appearently.</p>
<p>Lillium, you are not a parent, but do you agree that a school that charges 40k and upwards yearly, has, at a bare minimum, an obligation to ensure that its students are safe in both a physical and psychological sense???? Is that an excessive expectation?</p>
<p>The delta in price is addressed by the huge delta in price... Of course when this type of stuff happens the school is behooved to do the best they can to address it. I am sure this type of stuff happens at public schools also, though it will be limited to what happens in a BS from hours of 7am-6pm. </p>
<p>unfortunately such flaws are human (however atrocious the human may be) and 40k a year can't prevent that.</p>
<p>just my humble opinion.</p>
<p>And at the risk of seeming like I am bickering, when a parent sends a child to boarding school there is an implicit understanding that the school will be responsible for the child. It is after all, a child. There is an understanding that that responsibility covers twenty four hours a day and seven days a week. So when such things take place on the grounds of a school that has assumed reponsibility for a minor, then the school has not met its obligation to the parent or the student or even to the school itself. Sorry. Public school is free. Boarding school is 40k yearly. We expect at least that our children will be safe in every realm.</p>
<p>Sorry to bicker.</p>
<p>I may be only a teenager, but I am certainly one that understands the power of money, or the lack thereof. </p>
<p>At 44k a year, yes, a school should be doing it's best to ensure the safety of it's students. But at some point the faculty cannot be flies on the wall, and they cannot realize the pain that children put each other through. Comments that an adult faculty or staff member views as rude, yet unimportant can to a lot of harm to a fourteen or fifteen year old student, especially when it comes from one of their peers. </p>
<p>Adverage teens want nothing more than to "fit in".</p>
<p>EDIT:: I'm aware that Public School is free: Believe me, I've been in far worse situations due to my schools entitled suburbanite masses and the blatent disregard my school officials have for student safety, than someone calling me "retarded".</p>
<p>Zero tolerance for hazing. I don't care if you're a zillionaire. If you can't kick out "Bill Gates' kid," then your institution isn't really credible when it talks about character. If half of what that kid claims is true, there should have been a raft of dismissals. It makes no difference if the kid was a jerk or poorly behaved himself. If the alleged behaviors took place, the institutional response should have been swift and severe. What the institution does is so much more telling than what it says.</p>
<p>^ Exactly, 10char</p>
<p>There is a lot of very appropriate enthusiasm and excitement about boarding schools on this site, and that is all very well. But I guess once in a while we benefit from a reminder that there are two sides to every coin. There is also a dark, miasmic aspect of boarding school life that these scandals remind us of. All is not rosy beneath the patina of prestige, entitlement and exclusivity.</p>