Sunday 12 December 2010

Why do I keep on at this?

I have accounts from victims of abuse by monks and teachers at St Benedict’s School stretching back to the 1940s. I know that that abuse has continued to occur almost to the present day, with the suspension and subsequent departure of a teacher from the school this year. Given the length of time it can take for victims of child sexual abuse to come forward, it is likely that new reports of abuse that occurred at the school or the Abbey will pop up from time to time for the next 30 years or so, even if no further abuse occurs from now on. And abuse could well be continuing now, as the school's child protection procedures are still considerably short of best practice - a fact tacitly accepted by the Trustees when they appointed Lord Carlile to conduct an inquiry.

Unless something decisive is done by the Trustees, this is just going to go on and on. As things stand, every newly-reported case, even if it is of abuse that happened 30 years ago, will reflect badly on the school and the Abbey, and cause the headmaster and the Abbot sleepless nights.

Some people here have suggested that I’m obsessed about St. Benedict’s, that I’m anti-Catholic, that I bear some kind of deep and abiding hatred of the school. Nothing could in fact be further from the truth. I don’t care much about St. Benedict’s one way or another, and I have many things I would prefer to do with my time rather than chivvy the school into making its child protection procedures fit for purpose. For instance I’d like to spend more time on the music I play and write about.

But I’m going to continue to chase this issue until it is sorted, because it is the right thing to do for the safety of the pupils there, of whom my son was one many years ago. If by my inaction further abuse occurred which I might have prevented by shouting louder, then I would feel that I had some small share in the responsibility. I have nothing to lose – at worst this takes up a modest amount of my spare time, and I can afford that.

That spare time is not spent merely writing this blog. Victims contact me from time to time, and I encourage them to come forward to the police with their accounts. I know that some lines of police investigation have been triggered by statements made by victims who contacted me and who I have pointed in the direction of the police. It would be wrong of me to name names or be specific about anything in public, but there is more going on behind the scenes than I describe in the blog.

I do bits of research here and there. I review the reports that are produced by various bodies – the ISI, the DfE, the Charity Commission, the Diocese of Westminster and so on. I have several strands of ongoing correspondence at present, so there is going to be continued official interest in the school. For instance it was as a result of my reporting the discrepancies in the November 2009 ISI inspections that the DfE ordered the ISI to make unannounced inspection in April 2010 (I specifically suggested that the initial visit be unannounced).  So those who try to discourage me by writing comments saying that I'm achieving nothing might as well rest their fingers. I've seen the results of my actions.

And the DfE assured me within a few days of the publication of the May 2010 version of the school’s child protection policy that they were continuing to work with the school to ensure that the its policy met regulatory requirements and that they did not regard the May 2010 version as being the final compliant version.

I’m in contact with the press of course. When a paper runs a story on St. Benedict’s, they frequently get in touch with me to check aspects of their story. And I have made an occasional phone call to a journalist when there is something worth reporting.

Quite a number of parents have been in contact, very concerned for the safety of their children and asking what could be done about it. I was barred from attending the safeguarding meeting on 14th September, but parents weren’t. Several parents who attended had contacted me prior to the meeting, and I know that in the days immediately prior to the meeting there was a lot of traffic on the blog as parents were doing their research. So I wasn’t there but my questions were, and of course the answers were reported back to me.

I can immediately see through half-hearted efforts to make token or minimal improvements to the child protection policy. Good child protection procedures aren’t all that hard to recognise once you have taken the trouble to understand the language. In a previous career I was responsible for regulatory and highly technical documents in the telecoms industry that ran to thousands, even tens of thousands of pages, where an error might cost the industry millions to put right if not caught in time. Reading through and analysing the 17-page child protection policy of St. Benedict’s School is nothing in comparison, and even the 538 pages of the London Child Protection Procedures isn’t all that hard to follow, especially as it is possible to skip quite large parts of it which are obviously not relevant to schools.

I have of course met Lord Carlile in the course of his inquiry and provided several hundred pages of documentary evidence to him.

So, I can keep going for ever, until I’m satisfied that the Trustees are doing the right thing and the school has become and will remain safe, or until the school closes because of a falling roll or a deregistration by the DfE. Until they really get to grips with this and start doing the right thing without reservations and qualifications, the Trustees will never know from what direction the next issue will come - press, officialdom, police, irate parents or blog post.

I know several former pupils who would obtain great satisfaction from the school’s closure because of the way in which they suffered when at the school – not just because of sexual abuse but also because of the bullying by staff and pupils, the beatings (thankfully now illegal), and the generally oppressive atmosphere of the place. But I would be satisfied with knowing that the place has genuinely turned over a new leaf.

It will be obvious when this happens. I will be the first to applaud when it does and I will thankfully get on with other much more enjoyable and interesting activities. But there is no evidence as yet that I can do that.

55 comments:

  1. 'I would be satisfied with knowing that the place has genuinely turned over a new leaf.'

    Me too. I loathed St Benedict's, not because I was sexually abused there - although everyone connected with the school knew it was going on - but because of what you describe as the 'generally oppressive atmosphere of the place'. It was a hideous place to spend my childhood. But like you, I would prefer the place to turn over a new leaf rather than be closed down. Unlike my 'teachers' there thirty years ago - Soper, Pearce, Chillman, Baker, Strahan, and all the other ghouls - I'm not vindictive. I can forgive, even if I can't forget. If St Benedict's could change for the better rather than be closed down, then I hope it will.

    You're performing a great public service, which is more than that self-serving institution has ever done.

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  2. i was at st.b's between 1960 and 1971, were you? stuff happens and we are stronger for it.

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  3. Good for you 21:05, although St Benedict's obviously hasn't given you any capacity for empathy. But then, you'd probably regard 'empathy' as a namby pamby concept - as would most staff and pupils in my time there. Personally, I think those of us who learn to think for ourselves are the strongest of all.

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  4. hmm; navel gazing is so last century.

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  5. empathy; namby pamby, too right; "real men" don't do empathy!

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  6. "real men" don't grope small boys. "real men" don't sexually assault small boys. "real men" don't protect others who sexually assault children.

    Not many "real men" in the St B's staff when I was there.

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  7. There seems little appetite for change at St Benedict's because I suspect, the useless articles described as 'school advisors' are unable to recognise anything is truly wrong. The Trustees meanwhile understand they are in a hole – the genie is out of the bottle and they have hired Carlile to recapture the genie and polish the bottle.

    The Advisors seem not to recognise the culture of physical and sexual abuse that pervades the place, and which they have not seen despite so many of them being former pupils. Perhaps they are from all denying “it did not do me any harm” wing of OP’s. Even if the wakeup call happened for the advisers - what power do they have other than resignation?

    Look at the school's efforts to get a credible safeguarding policy created. How many times has this been 'overhauled?' And still it’s useless because it is transparently designed to protect the institution at the expense of the pupils.
    The trust can pull the wool with the school advisers who will be willingly led anywhere, but the audience on this site recognises effective policies - which then of course have to be made to work.

    Sadly the trust can't get the first step right so what hope is there for the second step?

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  8. I'm glad you do keep on Jonathan, on my own behalf and that of my family with our long connection (since 1948) with the school and the parish.

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  9. Independent schools are all too often run like family businesses. In such an environment nepotism is rife, informal procedures are relied up on and poor monitoring of policy and practice shows a worrying lack of professionalism. Those who complain about being bound up in the red tape of policies misunderstand their fundamental purpose which is to ensure a consistent approach to the management of an organisation, to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and also to protect individuals. It is, therefore, essential that policies not only are in place but are implemented. The events at St Benedict's have been and continue to be worrying because there still seem to be far too many 'you scratch my back' type relationships and the essence of policy-making seems only slowly to be becoming understood.
    However, at St Benedict's, at least, there are signs that there is a will to try to move forward and set the school free of the shackles to the past. Progress has been slower than it ought to have been, but there has been progress. The regrettable part is that the Benedictine Community seem not to have been incapable of the basic Christian humility to admit when they have got things wrong, accept their mistakes, apologise and seek to make amends by setting their house in order.
    I do think Mr West's position is exactly this and his efforts should really make the heads and trustees of independent schools sit up and take notice.

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  10. My feeling echos that of the first comment. I was at the school over 20 years ago and the sexual abuse was rife. It was open talk in the playground and blatant. Add to that the generally hostile atmosphere and you have a school that will only provoke painful memories for many.
    Of all the boys I know were abused in my time, to my knowledge none have come forward. Does that mean abuse doesn't take place at the school because it hasn't been widely reported lately? NO! I also sincerely hope that the protection procedures are made to fit purpose to safeguard the current and future pupils.
    Do not underestimate the measures Ealing Abbey will take to protect it's business interests.
    Good work Jonathan West!

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  11. Good work indeed Jonathan West. You seem to be eliciting some quite remarkable statements. Out they come, one by one, without a single shred of evidence to support any of their now rather predictable assertions.

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  12. The last contributer is off his head. How can you produce evidence for the sort of thing being discussed. What do you want? What sort of evidence? Why cant you just wake up. These were kids. They are coming forward now they are adults, and thats what you dont like. Wake up 14.24

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  13. Really 20:08?

    Question: How the hell do you know?
    Answer: You do not.

    You're simply taking what's offered you, on blind faith. I certainly wouldn't wish to be quite so gullible. All we have here, as Hamlet said, is ‘Words…words’.

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  14. Too right 20:08. These were children and part of their childhood was stolen away as well as, in many cases, much of their peace of mind in adulthood. And their parents were charged a lot of money to have their kids' lives fucked up! Anyway the evidence comes from lots of people telling the same story consistently and without any gain for themselves save that of regaining some of that lost peace. When this stuff happens to you it can screw up your life and relationships. Giving evidence and seeing the guilty held to account begins the process of closure. In any case right is right and wrong is wrong. There aren't any sell-by dates on what happened. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

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  15. I don't think so, 22.11, I'm no way gullible. Why can't you accept the truth. What the last contributor said is true. You yorself, 22.11 are sad not to be able to accept that what is being said is true.

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  16. This brings us back to the question of what happens next. Apart from a bit of work on the safeguarding policy, which other of the ISI recommendations have been applied?
    Also a little while back grimersta said s/he had written to the DfE about the school's failure to notify the ISA about staff who leave in suspicious circumstances. Do we know any more? And as it is a criminal offence, will the head or the trustees be charged? It does seem that for the moment the perpetrators are carrying the can for the whole affair. I'd never want to make any excuses for them, but there are others who also need to be punished too. A few heads of schools arrested and fined or banged up for their safeguarding failures might make others start earning their salaries and doing the job of safeguarding properly. These are responsibilities not to be taken lightly. Mr West, keep at it.

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  17. Not sure Hamlet is a good example 22:11. He wasn't the most mentally stable together kind of guy. In any case quoting half a line of something out of context doesn't really move the discussion forward. If you are concerned that some of the evidence may be unreliable for what ever reason, then explain why and do so in a calm and measured way. Discussion is always good, but trying to win a debate by discrediting other people is pointless and immature.

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  18. The guy who speaks of Hamlet is giving away his identity. Smart or not!

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  19. There's an awful lot of self-indulgence on this blog. I know hardly anyone who doesn't feel that, in one way or another, 'stuff' has screwed up their life. No one, or hardly anyone, enjoys anything like perfect relationships, that's just the way we humans are it seems. Thus, for most people, the 'holy family' syndrome is and will remain in the realm of pure mythology or religious propaganda. Just how much ‘stuff’ is present in and around all of us has been painstakingly uncovered over the past century by a whole army of poets, novelists, psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists and anthropologists. Post Freud. None of us can believe, with any degree of honesty, that we were born destined for a life of innocence and unsullied joy.

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  20. I love the line about 'trying to discredit other people. That's exactly what this blog is all about.

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  21. .
    To help everyone, smart or not, here's the FULL quote together with ref:

    Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
    Hamlet: Words, words, words.
    - Hamlet, 2. 2

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  22. My letter was sent by email to a named individual at the Ministry on the 22nd November. Their reply period is normally a month.

    When it arrives, I expect it to answer a question I did not ask, and not answer the question I did ask. This is the DfE default. It’s a departmental imperative to obfuscate - it just pushes all the unanswered questions forward in ever more extraordinary exchanges until the civil servant states that s/he is going to cease further communication on the matter. It's like dealing with a giant earthmover.

    But given it was the ISI which indentified the breach of law at St Benedict’s, the reply from the DfE should be revelatory whatever is said.

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  23. Re O6:12

    Excellent. You bring us back to the one thing that matters, the thing Mr West can really do something about.

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  24. I thought we were discussing Hamlet? He was, we're told, unbalanced. Maybe thrown off balance by those around him - a weak and treacherous mother, a ruthless and murderous step father, a neurotic would-be suicide of a girlfriend, a scheming old hypocrite of a counsellor and a friend capable of take in rather less than Yorick's empty scull?

    Thank God we live in a enlightened age of blogging, is all I can say.

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  25. .
    .
    What a credit you are to catholicism 12.34. I have been reading this book
    to try to find the line of thinking you have promoted in your posts today - not in C4D.

    So instead I looked at the political manifesto of the PVV to which your thoughts are more closely aligned. Are you a member of this as well?

    But certainly we know you are a supporter to St Benny's, the Abbey, and the Trust and everthing it does and stands for. It's really marvellous - good for you.

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  26. There was another teacher who left recently with no goodbyes. Has anyone followed that up? We know about the one being investigated by social services, but there was another one as well. Do we know why that member of staff left?

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  27. I've just read these comments, and I love the 'real men don't do empathy' line. It's obviously okay for them to become Colonels in the CCF alongside paedophiles whose activities were universally discussed...and later take prominent positions in the OP.

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  28. 22:10 I think I know who you mean, and I'm certain that the departure of that teacher has nothing to do with allegations of abuse.

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  29. I'm terribly sorry 19:33 but your thumbnail assessment is way, way off beam. It's interesting, though, to see what conclusions contributors jump to. Well, only mildly interesting as they almost inevibaly land in just one or two well worn spots.

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  30. Re: 22:10/01:22 - Of course you do Jonathan. As we’ve come to appreciate, no one can get an innuendo, an insinuation, an oblique reference or even the tiniest morel of gossip past you. It’s what keeps this blog going.

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  31. Two postings from the same poster 11.39/53 - the answer to your whining is to go away and stay away. You clearly don't like this site or the people here because they are critical of the institutions in which you see little wrong.

    So stay happy and keep away, and let us chunter on without your offbeat and largely subject ignorant contributions.

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  32. No 11.53 - it is getting to the bottom of the decades of systemic and systematic child abuse, its concealment, and the desire to have it finally stop, that keeps this blog going.

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  33. Looking down this thread and seeing 14:44's comments I'm left feeling that the blog has perhaps no more than two or three regular contributors. If they stayed away Mr West'd be left either high and dry or in spectacular isolation. However, the trio would not be missed as the only line worth following comes from Mr West himself. Not that that's saying very much, of course.

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  34. .
    .
    Child abuse enquiry announced in Northern Ireland.

    Last year, Stormont assembly members backed the holding of an inquiry into the extent of child abuse in Catholic church and state-run institutions in Northern Ireland.

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  35. Plus ça change.

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  36. It is good that the Northern Ireland inquiry will include state run homes, not just catholic homes. In the Irish republic, people who were abused in Church of Ireland homes have no recognition and no compensation scheme. They are campaigning for the same treatment as those who were abused in catholic homes.

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  37. Absolutely and I (the poster of the BBC News piece) agree with your sentiments. The film clip was most intertesting for what the cross party politicians said. We need more people in power to make similar clear statements of intent.

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  38. Although I've posted on this blog before it's been some time since I last did and I havn't been following it particuarly either. That said I am being asked to give a statement re an experiance I had when I was at the school in the late 70s. I am very unsure about doing that so decided to return to this blog to see if I could clarify my thoughts on it. Instead of finding a thoughtful conversation and exchange of views what I found is something that has become a hostile stream of what are best described as rants, some of which have shockingly reminded me of exactly what a misery it was to be in that school as a child. The bullying atmosphere was ever presant and the culture of brow-beating with insults well established. Those posting them here that claim to have been students during that time all I can say is you learnt your lessons well and I'm sure you left the school and went on to bully your way through life. Good for you. Of course I say that soley based on your comments here. Could be that having read this blog you've only temporarily reverted back to the bullying ways, though I doubt it. The 'we all had it bad so just live with it' school of thought is to my way of thinking the epitome of everything that was wrong with that Hell Hole they called a school back then. It was an is a license, nay, an excuse for the wrong doings to me and others ignored, swept under the carpet. To shut people up that would dare to complain. That school was a fucking discrace and was made so and allowed to exist as such for so long because to come forward, to speak, to complain was not just frowned upon but invited brutal reprisals. Anyone who wasn't there has no idea of just what a savage enviroment it was and what hatred and bile those of us that were forced to suffer through it carry. I do not doubt that these appologists will continue to try and bully and insult others into shutting up and 'toeing the line' but you know what? We are no longer frightened of you. We will speak up. We will shed light into that vile pit and show it for all the world to see and damn you for trying to stop us.

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  39. When will the Carlile enquiry be published?

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  40. Hear hear. Well done. You are exactly right. And this investigation by Carlisle and this evidence from past pupils is shedding light on the torment of the past but the present is here now and the abuse is still rife. The place has no soul. There are teachers who are being bullied, it's not just kids. If you were a pupil who was abused, you might not expect that. But they employ phonies and they force excellent teachers who could save the place to quit. It is beyond the pale, and I can't refer go any particular case, but it is happening now. They employ staff without following proper selection processes and then, they get rid of excellent teachers. There is no equal opportunities. If stAff Re treSted with disdain, they will take it out on the kids.

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  41. How refreshing to read the rant-free and beautifully reasoned contribution @00.20 - a splendid example of what this blog should be and can be at its best.

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  42. No need to refer to particular cases or be bothered about particulars at all 05:31 - that's that sort of freaky stuff only nasty people bother about.

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  43. --- --- --- --- --- ---

    ‘Doing this’ ad nauseam.

    BBC 4 ran a series of reflections over Christmas on ‘news and news reporting’ in which blogging and bloggers were generally dismissed as fanatical, obsessive anoraks, seriously lacking in balance and intellectual capacity.

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  44. 5:31 makes some interesting points. These are all issues of leadership. There appears to have been a lack of real leadership for decades and it is not surprising that the yes-men have made progress in their careers over the competent and professional. Got things to cover up? Solution: promote the weak and compliant who would never gets jobs elsewhere. They'll be so grateful they'll never blow the whistle. Come to think of it they're probably too thick to notice what's happening or too busy looking the other way.
    Good leaders empower, bad leaders dominate. Good leaders listen to everyone, bad leaders listen only to those who tell them what they want to hear. Good leaders put the institution first, bad leaders put themselves first. Good leaders humbly accept responsibility when things go wrong, bad leaders seek to blame others. Good leaders inspire, bad leaders conspire. And here we are!

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  45. In response to 23rd Dec/00.20, you are not alone. Unfortunately, when there are so many abuse victims that have come forward over the decades, passions can rightly boil over and people get angry.
    I have experience as a pupil of the school and I recollect the bullying, in addition to friends of mine who were fiddled with.
    The only solution available, that could offer any slight justice, would be to protect future pupils. To get that the abuse victims need to come forward with their statements to highlight the shortcomings and force in procedures that will protect future generations.
    Otherwise this will go on and on, and like you say get swept under the carpet...
    Your contribution is valuable.

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  46. Just a note to thank you for running this blog and an encouragement to continue. I was there when all of this was going on but unaware of it and thank goodness never approached by anyone. Maestri was a favourite teacher so that came as a real shock. Pearce was always smug and creepy and even as a kid I couldn't stand him. Chillman and Soper both pretty useless although again no hint of anything that I picked up on (I am not defending anyone here).

    So keep up the good work, I suspect you have a readership that is 100 times the number of posts you actually receive.

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  47. Why so modest in your assessment 13:05? Mr West surely has the entire nation in thrall.

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  48. 13:05 is right. The readership of this blog is not only wide but reaches high levels in government and the DfE as well as Ealing Children's Services, Ofsted and ISI. The press doubtless keep an eye too. Schools where there are current or historic safeguarding issues all have cause to worry. St Benedict's today. Who knows where tomorrow. This can only be good in the long term because it means the cancer will be cut out once and for all. Keep on pushing Mr West, you have brought a lot of sordid and corrupt behaviour out into the open, and if one child somewhere is spared abuse or one damaged adult achieves closure, then this blog has been worthwhile. It seems like there is now finally a real will at Benedict's to get things right on the safeguarding front. This is positive.

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  49. ..
    MR WEST'S RHETORICAL QUESTION

    The reason you do this and go on doing this Mr West is quite simple: you cannot help yourself. You're clearly a man obsessed. Others will have to decide just how ‘magnificent’ your obsession is, but generally speaking the condition is neither healthy nor admirable. Anyone obsessed is driven by an inner compulsion which, whether rooted in psychological or social factors, is beyond their control. In reality, Mr West, you are merely acting out an agenda for which you are only marginally responsible. I suspect, even now, you’re busy mulling over how you can spin this obsession out into another month and another year. Such activity, in my opinion, is more deserving of pity than admiration.

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  50. hindsight is a wonderful thing and memories play tricks with reality. horrible things happen all the time and a few people really do suffer but we seem to be in an age of hand wringing and navel gazing and assuming everyone was and is a victim. there are few people who have not had horrible things happen in their childhood but most people manage to cope, grow up and get on with their lives.

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  51. R.I.P. Mr WEST

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  52. Ah, once more the bullies raise their collective heads, or is it only one? If I was a supicious person I might ask myself just why are they so eager to stop this discussion? What do they have to hide? What are they frightened of being discovered? Because here's the thing, it's only silence and secrecy that protected these bastards for so long. Why are you trying to help them?

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  53. It makes me very upset that some people out there look to belittle what is a very real problem at the school.
    The fact that it has gone on for decades makes me think that there is a lot to hide, and equally a lot to protect.
    Navel gazing? More like kiddie fiddling. For decades. Widely known internally. And yes, I mean that.

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  54. We note, Mr West, that moderation has passed over into personal and self-serving censorship!

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