Humiliate them
Humiliate them
Is the answer for us to turn up and demonstrate at St James open days and other events they're involved with? We could print documents detailing our experiences, hand out copies of Secret Cult etc. Every time they had an even we could let parents of current and potential pupils know the shameful heritage of abuse. We could even leaflets parents collecting their children from the school....
It would be illegal to go into the school grounds to leaflet I should think, but they would have no power to stop you if you were in the streets outside offering information if people were interested. I'm sure plenty would be!
It might be good to let some of the kids in the school know the truth. Most -unless they find internet sites, which seems to be a growing trend- are completely shielded from what has gone on in the past, as well as present day politics. Some of the older ones, those who are being encouraged, sorry, 'offered the chance' to join the Ses foundation group may be interested to see the other side of the coin.
It might be good to let some of the kids in the school know the truth. Most -unless they find internet sites, which seems to be a growing trend- are completely shielded from what has gone on in the past, as well as present day politics. Some of the older ones, those who are being encouraged, sorry, 'offered the chance' to join the Ses foundation group may be interested to see the other side of the coin.
Just curious wrote:You wouldn't complete anything by "humiliating" them, ut i do think the kids should see the other side of the coin.
I dont see the point of the kids seeing "the other side of the coin", as the "other side of the coin" is history. However if they are interested- no one is stopping them from reading the forum. I find it rather uneccessary to rant and rave upon what used to happen.
MY entire class, last year, got an e-mail about this forum, only half checked what is what about with a tiny bit in interest. After seeing it, they dissmissed the whole idea of getting involved in this forum, even if it was "fighting" for the reputation of St James... in the end - the history holds much gossip which happens no more. In our view the school you went to was a different one to the one we go to now.
Anonymous wrote:MY entire class, last year, got an e-mail about this forum ... In our view the school you went to was a different one to the one we go to now.
Hi current pupil,
I am sure all of us who went to St James or St Vedast in the bad old days are happy that it is different today. You will find that it is only one or two contributors to this forum that want to 'humiliate' the school and its current teachers and governors.
The rest of us want to see apologies from former teachers, such as the ones courageously made by Barrington Barber and David Hipshon. We also want apologies from the School itself, and the inquiry announced by David Boddy will hopefully facilitate that.
You haven't said whether you are in the boys'/girls' or junior/senior schools. However I would be very interested in hearing your views, as a current pupil, of the connection between St James and the SES. How much of your weekly schedule is SES-related (philosophy classes, meditation etc)? Is it all compulsory? How many of the current teachers are members of the SES?
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what gets me is how disengaged current pupils seem from all this. For a school that teaches "truth" *cough* and, one would guess with all that philosophy, care for one's fellow man, seems to me the current students couldn't give a rat's arse for the experiences of past students. Maybe "empathy" isn't part of the SES credo?
a different guest wrote:... seems to me the current students couldn't give a rat's arse for the experiences of past students. Maybe "empathy" isn't part of the SES credo?
Agree, ADG. Compassion isn't their strong point (at least historically - that talkative Christoph bloke mentioned he had a disability a recent post - wonder what the SES made of that in under their more recent guise). In a nutshell, the hardcase SES / School of Philosophists believe that the afflictions you suffer in this life are the result of your behaviour in your previous incarnation.
The oddly unreflective post of the current student reminded me of George Santayana's advice on the value of studying history: "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it".
- a different guest
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a different guest wrote:I must admit that out of all this I find the attitude of current pupils the most scary!
I wouldn't be 100% sure it's their fault.
Remember when Secret Cult came out? Debenham called the whole senior school together to tell us how the school was under attack and we must unite to fight the evil menace of twisted journalism. The senior girls got a similar talk from Caldwell.
I don't remember exactly how Debenham put all this, but George Orwell would have been proud of him - it was so effective that when I bought the book the next day and showed it to some other pupils, I was accused of treachery.
I don't know anything about Boddy and Hyde, nor what if anything they have told their pupils about this forum. However the lesson of the above episode is that you can't always blame the kids for what they believe when their teachers - and in many cases their parents - conspire to twist the truth.
It's also worth remembering that what happened to us may genuinely be quite incredible to kids today. If you are a ten year old in 2004, how can you possibly understand what it was like to be a ten year old in a school where corporal punishment was legal and commonplace? How can you believe that parents would have tolerated it?
Daffy wrote:a different guest wrote:I must admit that out of all this I find the attitude of current pupils the most scary!
I don't know anything about Boddy and Hyde, nor what if anything they have told their pupils about this forum.
The pupils have not been told anything. The staff were informed of this forum's existence, and the proposed inquiry, about two weeks ago. (Some of them already knew about it, of course.)
I don't think you can blame the current pupils' attitude on SES philosophy, which most definitely teaches compassion. My sense is that most of them are not at all interested in the SES anyway, and wouldn't know if you asked them what its philosophy is.
They do know you're supposed to be kind and considerate to others, though.
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