<p>Hi guys, 1st post here. I was researching a couple schools which I have already submitted my application too, and I came upon this site when I entered "taft school theater" in the google search box. Taft</a> drama teacher busted for child porn - Connecticut Post I was amazed. I had no idea that a school this great could be housing pedophiles. Could anyone provide some insight for me, as I am shocked to read this. Thanks</p>
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<p>Do you have some inside intelligence that Taft or any school deliberately houses pedophiles?</p>
<p>I would say the only insight here is that some people are sick. I’m sure pedophiles don’t advertise their fetishes at boarding school job interviews. Don’t blame the school.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to say that Taft deliberately houses pedophiles. But what you’re trying to say is that Taft had no idea that something arcane was happening; he’s been teaching there for 24 years. Come on…</p>
<p>wow, I guess some schools are better than others at covering these stories up. I certainly would not want my child to attend a school with a headmaster who possibly had relations with students. Boarding schools are supposed to be supporting enviroments, instead, these things show up.</p>
<p>Hopeful, consider this well reasoned op ed:</p>
<p>[Private</a> Schools Diligent, Vigilant but not Omniscient - Opinion - Housatonic Times](<a href=“http://www.housatonictimes.com/articles/2012/12/06/opinion/editorials/doc50c1020d86e71993094656.txt?viewmode=fullstory]Private”>http://www.housatonictimes.com/articles/2012/12/06/opinion/editorials/doc50c1020d86e71993094656.txt?viewmode=fullstory)</p>
<p>I’m surprised it’s taken this long for all this to hit CC. I’m unsure where to begin because this sort of thing has been going on at schools for centuries. No one condones it, in fact everyone (almost everyone) despise the whole aspect. The private and public school vetting process is as strong as can be within the law which is convoluted with political correctness and the teachers union. I know if you dig farther you’ll find the dirt on many Prep Schools. Having said that, there is a lot more within the PS system but it simply is not publicized as much for different reasons. Private institutions such as Andover, Brooks and Taft are media fodder and the faculty do not have the protection of the teachers union. What I’ve said doesn’t make any of it right. I can assure you that boarding school boards are very cognizant of this issue and there is no perfect system to prevent the hiring of sick people. That last statement alone is not PC and if I were some public official I could have the ACLU on my case, who publicly defend NAMBLA. Personally, I feel a lot more comfortable with the boarding schools in this respect than the PS. I’ve already had dealing with our local grammar school where my hands were tied. My so called antics of running to the school or outbursts at the PTA meeting were redeemed when the 5th grade teacher was finally arrested in the neighboring town with the help of his wife. It’s also not really a matter of covering it up but unless you can actually go to the video (and they do!) , it is usually extremely difficult to act until after the fact. That particular teacher got a 3 line write up buried in the middle of the neighboring paper a week later, not even mentioned in the local paper. Frustrating.</p>
<p>Since I’ve been researching schools, I’ve also come across “scandals” at SPS and NMH, and of course Horace Mann (I think a day school, but very prestigious.) I suppose that if you are inappropriately interested in children, you go where the children are, and for those scandals that are relationships between consenting adults - well, that could happen anywhere. I think it’s up to the school to create a culture where a victim feels safe coming forward, and will be believed. Look at what just happened at Notre Dame. </p>
<p>[Notre</a> Dame scandals: Why is Manti Te?o?s fake girlfriend Lennay Kekua more famous than Lizzy Seeberg?](<a href=“http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/01/17/_notre_dame_scandals_why_is_manti_te_o_s_fake_girlfriend_lennay_kekua_more.html]Notre”>Notre Dame scandals: Why is Manti Te’o’s fake girlfriend Lennay Kekua more famous than Lizzy Seeberg?)</p>
<p>Horace Mann is indeed a prestigious day school here in NYC. My 8th grade son is applying there. At the open house we attended last fall, the headmaster, Tom Kelly, handled it (imho) as well as possible. He said he was doing two separate introductions to the school and then went on for 15 minutes about the situation and what the school was doing about it. Then he said that he was now doing the normal introduction and never mentioned the scandal again. During the scandal discussion, he said that they were perfectly willing to answer any questions about it and one should feel free to call him, but please don’t discuss that during the interview process itself. That was meant for other purposes.</p>
<p>I was left with a very favorable impression of him and the school from the way he addressed the scandal.</p>
<p>It appears that Hopefull2013 came on just to sling mud. Note he or she has only made three posts as of my writing this. No real information, just slander and a chance to start a thread that is inflammatory.</p>
<p>First - @Hopefull2013 – HE HAS NOT slept with children. Looking at child porn is wrong - but is not the same thing as touching or sleeping with students. No student has reported that activity and it’s NOT part of the charges. SO THERE is your darn insight!!! (and darn isn’t the word I would choose).</p>
<p>If Hopefull2013 is planning to go - or send a student to boarding school, he/she might consider that faculty from many of the top schools have been caught with porn and are more interesting to write about than the MUCH larger number of teachers and coaches caught doing the same thing in public and local private schools. And certainly the “amount” of porn and longevity found among two Exeter and Andover faculty was significantly more extensive.</p>
<p>I do know Taft students have worked with this particular teacher in close proximity for theater, video and extended field trips and none have reported anything inappropriate going on. In fact, many of the students are mourning his loss and the betrayal of trust. So quit the indictment of a school based on what a faculty does in the privacy of his own home. They can’t possibly monitor that type of activity. They do, however, have an active system for reporting abuse of authority and it is dealt with swiftly when it happens (and I mean swiftly). And, or the record, in this particular case the school is not covering up the scandal, but actively engaging students in conversations about it and putting more mechanisms in place. They didn’t cover it up - the cooperated, allowed a full search of the school (which also meant confiscation of equipment), etc.</p>
<p>So thankfully, boarding schools can count Hopefull2013’s family as one less applicant since it appears that - without forensic investigation of the faculty at every school, he/she will not feel comfortable attending or having a student at a boarding school and will promptly withdraw their applications at all of them.</p>
<p>But Hopefull2013 might also just consider homeschooling - providing all adults in the home are screened. Because the numbers at local schools is far more insidious than at boarding schools. And at least at boarding schools the faculty and students stay more aware of what happens on campus 24-7. It’s a lot harder to hide inappropriate contact with students there, than at home.</p>
<p>The good news is that the Feds are cracking down on child porn all over the US. The system is working. </p>
<p>Hopefull2013 - move on.</p>
<p>Yea, exiemitalum, notice how I purposely mentioned that it was my first post. I have been stalking these forums for quite some time now, and I did not really need to post anything before. All my questions were answered with the help of the “search” button. I do not want to begin any conflicts, I simply wanted to ask if these kinds of problems are present at different boarding schools. Wow, homeschooling? Really? I understand that I may have taken this situation a bit out of proportion, but you don’t have to make a petty attempt to humiliate me. Obviously, reading through your previous posts, I can tell that you would advocate Taft due to the fact that your DC goes there. I am NOT what you would consider a “■■■■■,” but just another applicant looking for answers.
BTW, instead of trying to to bring me down, perhaps you have another method of discussing things; perhaps one that is more human in nature?</p>
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<p>I’ve been around for a while not “hiding” so you’ll notice I advocate for families making informed choices and have been a booster for a number of schools, not just mine or the one my child attends.</p>
<p>So I find it telling that you “show” up ONLY to post a negative comment about a particular school and then make inflammatory statements based on your assumptions. You didn’t come looking for answers or you would have simply asked the question without making value statements absent of any facts. If you wanted to know if this happened at other schools, a simple internet search would have shown you that yes - at many schools - and in volumes greater than the school you cited.</p>
<p>And HAD you bothered to do even a modest amount of homework - you would have found the articles posted by others on this thread, including the ones defending schools for having systems in place to try to avoid this - including internet filters, etc. to make sure school equipment is not used inappropriately. Certainly all students and parents are also required to sign contracts about appropriate use.</p>
<p>So - had you bothered to do due dilligence you would have discovered that all of the teacher’s activities occurred at home, off campus on his personal equipment. You would also note the school instituted new measure in light of the arrest, was proactive with parents and faculty and didn’t keep them in the dark, cooperated with a search of campus equipment, and raised awareness. They also stated that NO TAFT STUDENT had been harmed or participated in the practice.</p>
<p>So again - yes - it happens. Just as it does at public schools. If that is your fear, then I suggest the nearest cave. Because the problem is worse at public schools where there are FEWER checks and balances. Otherwise, you know that while this forum is good for informing people, having a ■■■■■ show up and express outrage having contributed nothing to other conversations over the past year is suspicious.</p>
<p>You asked to be enlightened, consider yourself schooled. And by the way - Hopeful is spelled with a single "l’.</p>
<p>Btw - Hopeful(l)2013 I just did an internet search on “teacher, s#x, student” and then another on principals. My search results returned pages and pages of articles - all from different states and counties. the first pages shows none from BS. hence my suggestion you may be better off homeschooled. Although the statistics of abuse by a family member or relative in homes is also higher than the incidences of inappropriate behavior on a boarding school campus. </p>
<p>Take that for what it is. I guess, given your criteria, there’s no place for you to go.</p>
<p>Try registering hopeful with one l. Whats that? It doesnt work because its taken. Oh, ok. Next time you try and rage, think about what I said and what I didn’t. Maybe I have some experience with prep schools, just like you; and maybe, just maybe, I attended the school that we have been discussing. Gee, what a shock.</p>
<p>I am aware of the internet blocks and filters, just as I am aware of the surplus amount of ways to bypass those “filters.” You think that the teacher was using the simple internet to access these files. Well, guess what, you’re wrong. He’s using something called TOR. “So - had you bothered to do due dilligence you would have discovered that all of the teacher’s activities occurred at home, off campus on his personal equipment.” He could have used this program ANYWHERE to access ANYTHING. Whoops, little slip up there in your “schooling,” don’t you think? </p>
<p>Wow, amazing. Advocating families on a free forum. Why don’t you put your amazing degrees to some good use instead of sitting on these online forums talking to strangers who could care less about you in real life, and arguing with me, the proposed “■■■■■.”</p>
<p>Yes, I will agree with you that no student was harmed. I am happy for them myself, but had you read through my previous posts in this thread, you would have seen that I had never made such assumptions about rapeage. Pedophiles are still pedophiles, whether or not they are touching those kids, or just fantazing about it. </p>
<p>A cave? The only safe place for me, is any that doesn’t have morons like you.
Schooled? Na, I prefer the term " Doyled."
Thank you, and have a great day.</p>
<p>Wow, I think you’re being a little harsh, Exie. I read these boards for weeks before I started posting (and so did my daughter, who uses the same login) just as Hopeful says he/she did. If my daughter, a 13 year old, had heard about something like what happened at Taft, without the perspective and experience of an adult, she might have posted a question similar to Hopeful’s in all innocence. I also find it unseemly that you, an adult, are attacking Hopeful personally (criticizing his username? really?) and at such great length. I think his/her question was within bounds and the kind of thing a teen would be concerned about. Obviously you have been on these boards a long time - you have thousands of posts, and I’ve run across your postings in many other threads - you are knowledgeable and usually very helpful. So I really don’t understand the attacks here - it comes across as truly vicious. Perhaps as a newbie I’m the one who is out of line by criticizing you, a seasoned and long-term member here, but as a mom, if someone was that harsh on my 8th grader (or whatever) I’d be pretty defensive. And by the way, my daughter is applying to Taft - we visited the school and liked it very much. This piece of news has not changed my opinion of it.</p>
<p>Thank jahphotogal, </p>
<p>Taft is a nice place. So are all the others. In this case I wasn’t being harsh on Hopeful. I was being pragmatic. His or her assertion that they wouldn’t want “their child” attending a school that harbored pedophiles, combined with any lack of exploration that the “press” is even more prolific on the Andover faculty member who had thousands of photos was a clue. Then coming back and implying the have “experience” on campus and “know” how to get past BS filters is another. It doesn’t take long to spot posters post anonymously pretending to be both students and parents in alternating comments.</p>
<p>But in this case the OP decide, after many long-term and thoughtful CC member provided the clarification he/she was looking for, decided to pile on.</p>
<p>So a harsh statement was met with an equally harsh reaction. The OP posted the article, then made comments that countered what was “in” the article with an inflammatory comment. If the OP feels that way, then they should consider dropping out of the “hopeful 2013” class pool. I remember getting angry responses from another poster who - ignoring CC advice - carried that attitude to the boarding school and was quickly - and resoundedly - corrected of it and had to come back to CC to ask for advice on how to repair the damaged relationship. So no - in this case, I don’t think I was out of line. Either the OP has experience or does not. If the latter - as stated in the rebuttal - they would not have needed to ask the question in the first place.</p>
<p>Well, I’ll stay out of it. We’re all just killing time now, waiting for March 10!</p>
<p>My first reaction to Hopefull’s posts was, “here’s another carpet-bombing ■■■■■ with an axe to grind, this time about Taft.” We do see this periodically - someone new getting on CC to trash an institution in the guise of innocent curiosity or some rot like that. If you’re an even remotely experienced boarding school consumer, you care about patterns and context. You judge the occasional crisis against the overall performance and quality of the school. Virtually every institution gets a black eye now and again. For those of us who know how hard most of these schools work to do a great job - and are largely successful, it’s a shame to see ■■■■■-like behavior that might wrongly influence a CC user.</p>
<p>Exie came down too hard, but sometimes it’s tough to bite your tongue when a great place is getting impugned by yet another anonymous flame thrower on the Internet.</p>
<p>What was that funny meme going around on Facebook last week: “What would you tell someone from the 1950s about life today? I have a device in my pocket that gives me access to all the knowledge in the universe, and I use it to look at pictures of cats and get into fights with strangers.”</p>
<p>We’re all anonymous here - I’m just a mom from Connecticut but I could be anyone - an 8th grader, the headmaster of Choate, or an FBI agent looking for evidence! I guess I’m an innocent about what goes in here - and I’m happy to stay that way! It’s been fun to learn a bit about different schools here but it’s way too easy to get sucked down the rabbit hole of obsession!</p>
<p>Exactly where is the error in the OP?? Hopefull was truthful in his post; he did not concoct this news about Taft. We should be grateful when information is brought to our attention.</p>