Thursday, January 14, 2010

A Scarlet Letter

The worth of a man is best measured by his treatment of his fellow man and not his office. - Jonathon Edwards

On May 12, 2009, Headmaster Smith wrote a letter to alumni that did not apologize to anyone. Instead, he took the cowards way out by parading my abuse for public ridicule. His letter further tried to shame all survivors for speaking out about abuse by his close friends and colleagues. And as in the meeting, the letter sickly suggested that the sexual abuse of students by his pedophile faculty was somehow consensual. Abuse that, prior to my confrontation, he anxiously kept quiet.

Then there were all the facts this letter omitted. This letter did not mention anything about the meeting with him on April 26. The fact that he eagerly sought this meeting in his words "to help". The fact that he flew out to meet. That he agreed to write a letter of apology. And other facts that we survivors know all too well and the headmaster will never acknowledge.

In doing so, Mr. Smith has made clear his and the school's position regarding sexual violence against children: stay quiet or else..... And that message was clearly received by other survivors, alumni and current students.
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