Marist rejects sex abuse victim's call for a memorial plaque : petition launched.

Wily_Bear said :

Nquaine, you ought to be lauded for your bravery in refusing to hide from this. I believe you are owed a debt of gratitude for your attempts to prevent further exploitation of children.

I can however, see how Marist would feel uncomfortable with a plaque on the school grounds. Perhaps they would be more open to the idea of you taking a ‘Kony 2012’ style approach, using all those $18,000 noticeboards outside local supermarkets and bus interchanges as an alternative?

Firstly, thank you for your support and encouragement.

As you imply, the school installing a plaque as proposed is, for them, the least risky of many alternatives. But what I would really like to see is the school embracing the idea for the positive aspects that a plaque could bring, rather than them concentrating on potential negative aspects of not installing it.

Lookout Smithers said :

I am all for a plaque that remembers the victims of abuse. I don’t think that it needs to be at the site where it took place. I think that it could be anywhere but. This leads me to look at not what is being asked for, but why. I think that there may be an unhealthy sentiment lurking here. Victims don’t always remain as such complete with that title. There is a point where they choose to no longer identify as victims.

The alternative of a plaque elsewhere has been considered. But as I have stated in other posts, the intention is not to hurt the school, and placing a plaque off grounds would be perceived as just that. In proposing the plaque be installed on the school grounds, the school has been offered the opportunity to have some level of control. I think that is fair.

As for the existence of unhealthy sentiments, all things considered, how can there be an absence of such? Nevertheless, the merits of a plaque will, or will not, stand on their own, regardless of my sentiments. That is one reason for the public call for support.

Well if nothing else I think your run of posts in row deserves a plaque. 9 by my count, and if I-filed hadn’t piped up, it could’ve been 13.

That’s got to be some kind of record on this forum.

Nquaine, you ought to be lauded for your bravery in refusing to hide from this. I believe you are owed a debt of gratitude for your attempts to prevent further exploitation of children.

I can however, see how Marist would feel uncomfortable with a plaque on the school grounds. Perhaps they would be more open to the idea of you taking a ‘Kony 2012’ style approach, using all those $18,000 noticeboards outside local supermarkets and bus interchanges as an alternative?

I am all for a plaque that remembers the victims of abuse. I don’t think that it needs to be at the site where it took place. I think that it could be anywhere but. This leads me to look at not what is being asked for, but why. I think that there may be an unhealthy sentiment lurking here. Victims don’t always remain as such complete with that title. There is a point where they choose to no longer identify as victims.

I-filed said :

How about a plaque that looks to a better future for the school?

On xxxx 2012, Marist College apologised formally to its victims who suffered at the school in earlier years, and commited in perpetuity to never again allowing, tolerating or condoning sexual abuse or a culture of bullying.

If it is only the wording that has caused the school to reject this proposal, they have not made any statement to that effect, or suggested alternate wordings.

Personally, I am open to any suggestions. Essential would be that we see evidence of culture change, that the victims are respected, and especially that children can understand the message that they should speak up about any inappropriate behaviour.

The_TaxMan said :

Firstly as a founding member of BACA in Australia (look it up) I abhore child abuse in any form and the perpetrators should be dealt with far more harshly than they are, all I need is ten minutes with them and a truck battery. To believe that erecting a plague in a school drawing attention to the fact that Priests abused children there almost 40 years ago will have anything other than a negative impact on that school and it’s current and future students is quite frankly ilconsidered & idiotic. Whilst any abuse is unacceptable please lets remember that in one year in NSW:

Notified cases of child abuse –
New notifications 14,387 (7914 substantiated)
Total of notified children 19,022
(NB 12,549 cases overall were substantiated all under the age of 16.)

How many plaques shall we put up people, if we extrapolate the above figures out we would be talking of over 25,000 children abused per year Australia wide and that is TODAY not in 1970-1973

If a petition was able to enforce the placing of a plaque of this nature at the school I can assure you it would not be there for long before it was removed.

How many plaques? If I had my way there would be a plaque in every school in the country. It just so happens that Marist is the only place I have any foothold. That would also overcome the problem that Marist College Canberra might feel stigmatised if they were the only one with a plaque.

The figures you quote only go further to prove how big a problem this is. But I fail to see upon what you base your claim that such a plaque can have no benefit to the former victims, or current and future students.

A plaque may be defaced or removed by vandals, but the public statement made by the school in installing it would be a lasting one as it would prove that the school’s culture has changed.

AG Canberra said :

p1 said :

But the physical building, and the current and future body of students and teachers did not commit this crime, and I can’t help feel they will be “punished” somehow by this.

Ah yes but it is the current Principal and executive that are fighting compensation claims. Instead of admitting the wrong, paying out the compensation and moving on – they are forcing the victims through another round of pain and suffering – to save a few dollars. Not very Christian…..

I cannot agree more.

In the school’s reaction to my statement to the Canberra times they claimed that the college “moved swiftly to resolve the claims of the victims”.

I have just recently finalised a 4 year legal case against the Marist Brothers during which they sought to defend themselves in the most underhanded and time-consuming ways, even going so far as to claim before the ACT supreme court that they were not responsible for the running of the school.

They have said this over and over, that they are moving swiftly, that they are doing their best to help the victims, etc, etc.

As JFK once said, “No matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth.”

Rather than a plaque, a somewhat trivial and feelgood statement, how about putting the time, effort and money into investigating the persons alleged to have committed the crimes and/ or ensuring that it never again happens.

As a former victim I can personally attest to the fact that the plaque would not be trivial. Further proof of its non-triviality is the passion evident behind the reactions, from both sides, to its proposal.

Again, the plaque would be only one piece of a multi-faceted strategy of education and prevention.

p1 said :

Watson said :

There’s something else about this suggestion that doesn’t sit right with me either. It’s as if they want to humiliate and punish the school for what has happened. And I totally agree that they need to be held responsible for any involvement and prompted to implement prevention measures. But this plaque is a bit like making a naughty kid wear donkey ears. Can’t really put my finger on it so I am not expressing myself very well here.

I have similar hard to express feelings.

If there are people still in the school who were involved in the many years of either not noticing or covering up abuse, these plaque proponents would be better off spending there time and money hounding those people away.

But the physical building, and the current and future body of students and teachers did not commit this crime, and I can’t help feel they will be “punished” somehow by this.

I think that the current management of the school are more punished by their current attitude of wanting to sweep everything under the carpet.

Culture can and does survive changes in management, staff, students and even buildings.

A plaque would prove once and for all that they have made, or are making, the necessary culture change.

shauno said :

20% thats got be the biggest load of crap ive ever heard

Please refer also to post #36 which includes information supporting that or similar figures.

I am interested to know upon what information you base your opinion. If it is just hearsay or personal experience then it is not very interesting.

djk said :

As a former student, not a victim of any abuse, and someone who plans on sending my son/s there, I don’t support this in the slightest.

I don’t realistically see how it would have any effect and I don’t understand why you think you have the right to try and tell/force a private organisation or corporation (?) to do something.

Obv it is something awful that happened to the OP and others, but this just seems like a completely useless way to combat it. Why not spend the energy or money on a support group or something else that can actually help?

You are correct : I do not have the right to force the school to do anything. But I do have the right to request it, which I have done so. I also have the right to appeal their decision by garnering public support and submitting a petition to them.

And who knows, perhaps your child will benefit from my action? I sincerely hope, for his sake, that the eventual lack of such a permanent reminder does not have the opposite effect.

bd84 said :

Reading through the “supporting” arguments, I fail to see one that is not going after the College or a self-justification which fails to prove any benefit of installing such monument. Do you seriously think that subjecting current and future students to reminders of child abuse every day through installing a plaque will be of any benefit? I think it would be far more beneficial for you to be focusing on ensuring proper education programs are in place for children at the school(s).

One of the supporting arguments that perhaps you missed : The plaque will empower students to think, to talk and to question, surely the aim of any good school.

“Do you seriously think that subjecting current and future students to reminders of child abuse every day through installing a plaque will be of any benefit?” – Yes. If it saves only one child from the horror of sexual abuse then it will have been worth it.

Again, the programs you talk of are also a good idea. I have never suggested that such a plaque would serve to replace them. I encourage all possible forms of prevention, of which I believe the plaque is one.

banco said :

Maybe I’ve led a sheltered life but I fight the 20% figure very hard to believe.

The figure quoted is based on a statement made by the executive director of Male Survivor, Christopher Anderson, at the Sandusky trial in Pennsylvania.

Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse ) states “The estimates for the United States vary widely. A literature review of 23 studies found rates of 3% to 37% for males and 8% to 71% for females, which produced an average of 17% for boys and 28% for girls,[148] while a statistical analysis based on 16 cross-sectional studies estimated the rate to be 7.2% for males and 14.5% for females.”

The point is not the figure of 20% – because even if the figure were 2% it would still indicate an endemic problem in my opinion.

The point is more that whatever the figure is, and we will never know, it will always be bigger than we thought, because people simply do not speak out for fear of being labelled something they do not want to be.

If one out of every hundred of your friends tells you that they were a victim, is it realistic to think that the rate is only 1% when so many never speak out, and those that do often wait over 20 years before doing so?

How about a plaque that looks to a better future for the school?

On xxxx 2012, Marist College apologised formally to its victims who suffered at the school in earlier years, and commited in perpetuity to never again allowing, tolerating or condoning sexual abuse or a culture of bullying.

shauno said :

I don’t think its appropriate at all at a school all it would do would instil mistrust in the Teachers for ever more.

The parents of kids at the school at the time when these abuses occurred trusted the teachers too much. In particular the Marist Brothers were simply beyond reproach. A minor dose of mistrust can be good thing.

Watson said :

nquaine said :

You imply also that the belief that pedophilia is endemic is a false belief. However recent studies in the US, quoted in court during the Sandusky trials currently underway, reveal that around 20% of men are victims of sexual abuse ( http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/06/23/support_groups_for_sexual_abuse_survivors_issue_statements_following_jerry_sandusky_verdict.aspx ). If 20% is not endemic then what is?

It doesn’t make the offense any less bad, but the majority of sexual abuse of minors occurs in their own home, tragically. Yes, teach kids to keep themselves safe from abuse whereever the threat may com from, but please don’t use a few tragic cases to make it appear that all our public institutions are staffed by mainly pedophiles.

I do not attempt to make anything appear other than the facts. That is that there were hundreds of now documented instances of sexual abuse of minors in the school over the period 1970 to 1993.

When you speak of a “few tragic cases” you minimise the truth.

dazzab said :

I read the words for the plaque and I cringe. I wonder why? It just seems so permanently sad with no hope for moving forward or any kind of recovery.

Maybe something that speaks to prevention of abuse to all victims would be better? Or how about perpetual funding for awareness projects?

I just think something that honours the survivors would be better than something that keeps trying to shame those who are long gone thankfully. Speaking for myself I really don’t want to be labeled a ‘victim’ even though I totally support accountability and prevention.

The subject of sexual abuse of minors has a certain gravity which cannot be avoided. Putting a plaque in place that has some kind of uplifting message of “hope” or “recovery” would be an insult to those who still suffer the consequences of their abuse decades after the fact, and to those who have suicided.

If you have a wording for the plaque that somehow honours suicide victims without risking a sombre tone or a reader’s cringe, please do let me know.

Again, the prevention or funding programs you talk of are a good idea. I have never suggested that such a plaque would serve to replace them. I encourage all possible forms of prevention, of which I believe the plaque is one.

As for being labelled a victim, the plaque lists no names. Those who suffer in silence already know they are victims – they do not need a plaque to remind them of it.

Watson said :

“as a permanent warning to future generations of students, reminding them that child sexual abuse is a real threat, that it can happen at their school, that it is wrong and should be reported.”

I fail to see how a plaque on the wall is going to achieve that. It surprises me that a victim of sexual abuse would suggest that, no offense. There are well thought-out teaching programs out there that can give kids the tools they need to recognise and resist sexual abuse that would go a lot further in preventing a repeat.

There’s something else about this suggestion that doesn’t sit right with me either. It’s as if they want to humiliate and punish the school for what has happened. And I totally agree that they need to be held responsible for any involvement and prompted to implement prevention measures. But this plaque is a bit like making a naughty kid wear donkey ears. Can’t really put my finger on it so I am not expressing myself very well here.

Many children do not speak up about sexual abuse because they think they are the only victim. As a former student and victim I can attest to that. The silence that dominates all dealings with this kind of abuse only strengthens this impression. The plaque aims to break that silence and let potential future victims know that they are not alone in this.

The programs you talk of are also a good idea. I have never suggested that such a plaque would serve to replace them. I encourage all possible forms of prevention, of which I believe the plaque is one.

The plaque is not an effort to humiliate the school. It is of course proposed in remembrance of victims, but is primarily a warning to future generations. Your donkey ears analogy is inappropriate as it implies neither of those characteristics.

HenryBG said :

aceofspades said :

banco said :

nquaine said :

vg said :

You imply also that the belief that pedophilia is endemic is a false belief. However recent studies in the US, quoted in court during the Sandusky trials currently underway, reveal that around 20% of men are victims of sexual abuse ( http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/06/23/support_groups_for_sexual_abuse_survivors_issue_statements_following_jerry_sandusky_verdict.aspx ). If 20% is not endemic then what is?
.

Maybe I’ve led a sheltered life but I fight the 20% figure very hard to believe.

Sounds like words from somebody that has never been sexually abused. I don’t find it hard to believe at all, I was abused myself and until now have only ever told a few people that were the closest to me. I imagine there are thousands more that have never been confident enough to come forward.

Probably depends on what you call “abuse”, but most boys come into contact with sexual perverts at some stage in their adolescence as the perverts use teaching, scout leading, Church and welfare positions as a means to find their victims. Not all boys manage to fight them off.
And then the cycle continues….

Almost half of all child sex abuse victims are boys.

Virtually all the perpetrators are men.

Nowadays, the vast majority of teachers are female.

Makes me think a better place for such a plaque might be The Cube.

It was definitely abuse, as in complete sexual activity. It was from when I was 7 or 8 years old and the perpetrator was a much older boy who lived across the road.

aceofspades said :

banco said :

nquaine said :

vg said :

You imply also that the belief that pedophilia is endemic is a false belief. However recent studies in the US, quoted in court during the Sandusky trials currently underway, reveal that around 20% of men are victims of sexual abuse ( http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/06/23/support_groups_for_sexual_abuse_survivors_issue_statements_following_jerry_sandusky_verdict.aspx ). If 20% is not endemic then what is?
.

Maybe I’ve led a sheltered life but I fight the 20% figure very hard to believe.

Sounds like words from somebody that has never been sexually abused. I don’t find it hard to believe at all, I was abused myself and until now have only ever told a few people that were the closest to me. I imagine there are thousands more that have never been confident enough to come forward.

Probably depends on what you call “abuse”, but most boys come into contact with sexual perverts at some stage in their adolescence as the perverts use teaching, scout leading, Church and welfare positions as a means to find their victims. Not all boys manage to fight them off.
And then the cycle continues….

Almost half of all child sex abuse victims are boys.

Virtually all the perpetrators are men.

Nowadays, the vast majority of teachers are female.

Makes me think a better place for such a plaque might be The Cube.

banco said :

nquaine said :

vg said :

You imply also that the belief that pedophilia is endemic is a false belief. However recent studies in the US, quoted in court during the Sandusky trials currently underway, reveal that around 20% of men are victims of sexual abuse ( http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/06/23/support_groups_for_sexual_abuse_survivors_issue_statements_following_jerry_sandusky_verdict.aspx ). If 20% is not endemic then what is?
.

Maybe I’ve led a sheltered life but I fight the 20% figure very hard to believe.

Sounds like words from somebody that has never been sexually abused. I don’t find it hard to believe at all, I was abused myself and until now have only ever told a few people that were the closest to me. I imagine there are thousands more that have never been confident enough to come forward.

Firstly as a founding member of BACA in Australia (look it up) I abhore child abuse in any form and the perpetrators should be dealt with far more harshly than they are, all I need is ten minutes with them and a truck battery. To believe that erecting a plague in a school drawing attention to the fact that Priests abused children there almost 40 years ago will have anything other than a negative impact on that school and it’s current and future students is quite frankly ilconsidered & idiotic. Whilst any abuse is unacceptable please lets remember that in one year in NSW:

Notified cases of child abuse –
New notifications 14,387 (7914 substantiated)
Total of notified children 19,022
(NB 12,549 cases overall were substantiated all under the age of 16.)

How many plaques shall we put up people, if we extrapolate the above figures out we would be talking of over 25,000 children abused per year Australia wide and that is TODAY not in 1970-1973

If a petition was able to enforce the placing of a plaque of this nature at the school I can assure you it would not be there for long before it was removed.

Rather than a plaque, a somewhat trivial and feelgood statement, how about putting the time, effort and money into investigating the persons alleged to have committed the crimes and/ or ensuring that it never again happens.

I’d go along with that as long as it included those who covered up their crimes and protected them rather than handing them over to the authorities. I think that would include arranging for the extradition of the Pope.

p1 said :

But the physical building, and the current and future body of students and teachers did not commit this crime, and I can’t help feel they will be “punished” somehow by this.

Ah yes but it is the current Principal and executive that are fighting compensation claims. Instead of admitting the wrong, paying out the compensation and moving on – they are forcing the victims through another round of pain and suffering – to save a few dollars. Not very Christian…..

Watson said :

There’s something else about this suggestion that doesn’t sit right with me either. It’s as if they want to humiliate and punish the school for what has happened. And I totally agree that they need to be held responsible for any involvement and prompted to implement prevention measures. But this plaque is a bit like making a naughty kid wear donkey ears. Can’t really put my finger on it so I am not expressing myself very well here.

I have similar hard to express feelings.

If there are people still in the school who were involved in the many years of either not noticing or covering up abuse, these plaque proponents would be better off spending there time and money hounding those people away.

But the physical building, and the current and future body of students and teachers did not commit this crime, and I can’t help feel they will be “punished” somehow by this.

LSWCHP said :

It’ll be a cold day in hell when a priest gets near my kids..

Why stop at priests? Paedos are usually men, you really should cease any contact your kiddies have with men. Any men. Now!

SnapperJack said :

Interesting to see all the Catholics here with their posts supporting and advocating pedophilia. It just goes to show why Catholicism is widely known as The Church of Pedophilia.

I don’t often say this, but you are an idiot. Take your moronic trolling elsewhere.

vg said :

As much sympathy as I have for the victims in this matter I think the idea of a plaque is a load of rubbish. It serves no purpose whatsoever besides serving the faux outrage of a bunch of punters who’ve never been near a private school, but think this sort of thing is endemic.

The school has every right to decline it and no amount of public support should serve to influence what they do or don’t do with this on private property.

I agree. Sexual abuse is disgraceful and should never be tolerated, but suggesting that the school create a memorial with this plaque seems like a misguided idea.

Interesting to see all the Catholics here with their posts supporting and advocating pedophilia. It just goes to show why Catholicism is widely known as The Church of Pedophilia.

nquaine said :

vg said :

As much sympathy as I have for the victims in this matter I think the idea of a plaque is a load of rubbish. It serves no purpose whatsoever besides serving the faux outrage of a bunch of punters who’ve never been near a private school, but think this sort of thing is endemic.

The school has every right to decline it and no amount of public support should serve to influence what they do or don’t do with this on private property.

As organiser of the plaque proposal, I have had direct communication with many of its supporters. They are most often former students of the school, family of former students, parents of current students – nothing like the profile you describe. They do not take the question of showing support or signing the petition lightly, as you imply.

You imply also that the belief that pedophilia is endemic is a false belief. However recent studies in the US, quoted in court during the Sandusky trials currently underway, reveal that around 20% of men are victims of sexual abuse ( http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/06/23/support_groups_for_sexual_abuse_survivors_issue_statements_following_jerry_sandusky_verdict.aspx ). If 20% is not endemic then what is?

The school may have every right to decline the plaque. But ignoring or not the public support for the plaque is their choice, not yours.

The silence that shrouds sexual abuse protects its perpetrators. Breaking the silence is key to fighting this scourge. The plaque is one way of breaking that silence.

20% thats got be the biggest load of crap ive ever heard

As a former student, not a victim of any abuse, and someone who plans on sending my son/s there, I don’t support this in the slightest.

I don’t realistically see how it would have any effect and I don’t understand why you think you have the right to try and tell/force a private organisation or corporation (?) to do something.

Obv it is something awful that happened to the OP and others, but this just seems like a completely useless way to combat it. Why not spend the energy or money on a support group or something else that can actually help?

Given the abuse and the’40 plus years’ of cover-up, how’s about a Canberra moratorium on Marist enrolments? (of course not, it’s too close and convenient for SUV/rugby mums and dads, despite the rape history.)

Reading through the “supporting” arguments, I fail to see one that is not going after the College or a self-justification which fails to prove any benefit of installing such monument. Do you seriously think that subjecting current and future students to reminders of child abuse every day through installing a plaque will be of any benefit? I think it would be far more beneficial for you to be focusing on ensuring proper education programs are in place for children at the school(s).

nquaine said :

vg said :

You imply also that the belief that pedophilia is endemic is a false belief. However recent studies in the US, quoted in court during the Sandusky trials currently underway, reveal that around 20% of men are victims of sexual abuse ( http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/06/23/support_groups_for_sexual_abuse_survivors_issue_statements_following_jerry_sandusky_verdict.aspx ). If 20% is not endemic then what is?
.

Maybe I’ve led a sheltered life but I fight the 20% figure very hard to believe.

I don’t think its appropriate at all at a school all it would do would instil mistrust in the Teachers for ever more.

nquaine said :

I would equate it more with the German people raising monuments to the holocaust. It is both a recognition of wrong doing, and a warning for future generations of how evil humans can be.

“Not smart”? Do we respect Germans more or less for installing such reminders?

And just to be a three post nutter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

nquaine said :

You imply also that the belief that pedophilia is endemic is a false belief. However recent studies in the US, quoted in court during the Sandusky trials currently underway, reveal that around 20% of men are victims of sexual abuse ( http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/06/23/support_groups_for_sexual_abuse_survivors_issue_statements_following_jerry_sandusky_verdict.aspx ). If 20% is not endemic then what is?

It doesn’t make the offense any less bad, but the majority of sexual abuse of minors occurs in their own home, tragically. Yes, teach kids to keep themselves safe from abuse whereever the threat may com from, but please don’t use a few tragic cases to make it appear that all our public institutions are staffed by mainly pedophiles.

I read the words for the plaque and I cringe. I wonder why? It just seems so permanently sad with no hope for moving forward or any kind of recovery.

Maybe something that speaks to prevention of abuse to all victims would be better? Or how about perpetual funding for awareness projects?

I just think something that honours the survivors would be better than something that keeps trying to shame those who are long gone thankfully. Speaking for myself I really don’t want to be labeled a ‘victim’ even though I totally support accountability and prevention.

wildturkeycanoe said :

This idea has about as much merit as installing a sign on a store, reminding everyone of how many customers they have ripped off in the past. Not smart by any means for the college’s future enrollments.

I would equate it more with the German people raising monuments to the holocaust. It is both a recognition of wrong doing, and a warning for future generations of how evil humans can be.

“Not smart”? Do we respect Germans more or less for installing such reminders?

If it does install the proposed plaque, the school would be showing that it has turned the page not only on the twenty plus years of abuse, but also on the forty plus years of trying to cover it up. And in doing so it might actually improve rather than damage its reputation.

vg said :

As much sympathy as I have for the victims in this matter I think the idea of a plaque is a load of rubbish. It serves no purpose whatsoever besides serving the faux outrage of a bunch of punters who’ve never been near a private school, but think this sort of thing is endemic.

The school has every right to decline it and no amount of public support should serve to influence what they do or don’t do with this on private property.

As organiser of the plaque proposal, I have had direct communication with many of its supporters. They are most often former students of the school, family of former students, parents of current students – nothing like the profile you describe. They do not take the question of showing support or signing the petition lightly, as you imply.

You imply also that the belief that pedophilia is endemic is a false belief. However recent studies in the US, quoted in court during the Sandusky trials currently underway, reveal that around 20% of men are victims of sexual abuse ( http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/06/23/support_groups_for_sexual_abuse_survivors_issue_statements_following_jerry_sandusky_verdict.aspx ). If 20% is not endemic then what is?

The school may have every right to decline the plaque. But ignoring or not the public support for the plaque is their choice, not yours.

The silence that shrouds sexual abuse protects its perpetrators. Breaking the silence is key to fighting this scourge. The plaque is one way of breaking that silence.

Slumlord said :

vg said :

As much sympathy as I have for the victims in this matter I think the idea of a plaque is a load of rubbish. It serves no purpose whatsoever besides serving the faux outrage of a bunch of punters who’ve never been near a private school, but think this sort of thing is endemic.

The school has every right to decline it and no amount of public support should serve to influence what they do or don’t do with this on private property.

Dont worry, clearly nothing has or will influence what they do or dont do on this private property, not even laws that make it an offence to sexually abuse children.

Yes, because the guy never went to jail……oh wait.

wildturkeycanoe said :

This idea has about as much merit as installing a sign on a store, reminding everyone of how many customers they have ripped off in the past. Not smart by any means for the college’s future enrollments.

You say that like it’s a bad thing.

“as a permanent warning to future generations of students, reminding them that child sexual abuse is a real threat, that it can happen at their school, that it is wrong and should be reported.”

I fail to see how a plaque on the wall is going to achieve that. It surprises me that a victim of sexual abuse would suggest that, no offense. There are well thought-out teaching programs out there that can give kids the tools they need to recognise and resist sexual abuse that would go a lot further in preventing a repeat.

There’s something else about this suggestion that doesn’t sit right with me either. It’s as if they want to humiliate and punish the school for what has happened. And I totally agree that they need to be held responsible for any involvement and prompted to implement prevention measures. But this plaque is a bit like making a naughty kid wear donkey ears. Can’t really put my finger on it so I am not expressing myself very well here.

This idea has about as much merit as installing a sign on a store, reminding everyone of how many customers they have ripped off in the past. Not smart by any means for the college’s future enrollments.

It’ll be a cold day in hell when a priest gets near my kids..

vg said :

As much sympathy as I have for the victims in this matter I think the idea of a plaque is a load of rubbish. It serves no purpose whatsoever besides serving the faux outrage of a bunch of punters who’ve never been near a private school, but think this sort of thing is endemic.

The school has every right to decline it and no amount of public support should serve to influence what they do or don’t do with this on private property.

Dont worry, clearly nothing has or will influence what they do or dont do on this private property, not even laws that make it an offence to sexually abuse children.

As much sympathy as I have for the victims in this matter I think the idea of a plaque is a load of rubbish. It serves no purpose whatsoever besides serving the faux outrage of a bunch of punters who’ve never been near a private school, but think this sort of thing is endemic.

The school has every right to decline it and no amount of public support should serve to influence what they do or don’t do with this on private property.