There are XXX Superdrewby members, Join for FREE now!
 
blogs
sometimes blue
DrewI am a thirty something married gay boy living in Sydney, almost on top of the gay scene but not in it! Why Sometimes blue?, because I love blue, but also I am sometimes blue :)
more about drew

Get me

Syndicate me



Add to Google
AustralianBlogs.com.au

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Old Knox Boy musings


So another teacher has been arrested from my old school for child sex abuse.


This one was certainly not a surprise to me, in fact he left under rather dubious circumstances where he was there one day and gone the next.


I have some serious dislike for my old school and the headmaster and a number of the teachers. I was bullied ever since I could remember and the school tacitly approved of the bully.


The school motto:


Virile Agiture or 'Act Like a Man' was ingrained upon the Psyche of the school and was often translated as treat boys tough to make them into tough men. This flowed down to the actions of the school.


For example in our student handbook it simply stated 'bully is not allowed', yet with the tacit approval of the Headmaster and some teachers my 'differences' and obvious sexuality was picked on and ridiculed.


When my parents complained time and time again that I would come home from school with bruises the school held a parent teacher conference, where they were essentially told I was bringing it upon myself by being 'different' and standing out from the crowd.


Nothing was done to actually address the issue and it was ingrained in us that Homosexuality was wrong and abnormal.


With so many teachers now under arrest from the school, the question as to whether the school new about the abuse and covered it up is now extremely relevant.


The Headmaster at the time must have had some inkling of this going on, and I am sure that there were indications.


Did the school know and simply cover it up?


And quite frankly if they didn't know they damn well should have!


As much as I hated the School and some of the teachers, I also had some of the most caring and wonderful teachers too.


A couple of teachers went above and beyond the call of duty and stood up for me and my 'differences'. In fact there are three teachers for whom I will be eternally grateful because they made my time at school bearable and went wading into the fight for me against common homophobia by the students and the school.


There was also a whole pocket of gay teachers at the school, who were not open about their sexuality with the students for obvious reasons. But they made it tacitly known to me and other students like me that being gay was OK.


For me and my experiences growing up I was luckier than most because I had a rich social life outside of the school and many of the people outside school were Gay or Gay friendly.


I am sure that this current teacher will not be the last to be arrested, and I am hoping that there is a proper and independent enquiry into the school to find out just much the school knew and what actions they took.



http://www.smh.com.au/national/fourth-teacher-arrested-after-more-knox-assault-claims-20090408-a0w1.html

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home

SpectrumBloggers.com
Pinkboard Blog Lists HNT_1

    follow me on Twitter