SPOILER ALERT!
Boarding School Abuse
Private School Abuse presents a series of criminal and improper acts frequently committed against students by school faculty members, administrators or employees involving sexual assault of varying degrees. The attack can be a one-time, non-consensual abuse or it can include several assaults within an ongoing interaction. For example, an ongoing intimate relationship with a student, created by the predatory behavior of a faculty member, school administrator or staff and whether leading to physical consensual sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.
Student-on-student sexual assault is another type of abuse, that might be made worse by the school’s failure to provide a safe environment that allowed the assault to occur. Within the school community are students of different ages, maturity and experiences. Younger students might be subjected to the predatory actions of older, more mature students. This actions, along with peer-pressure applied on both the predator and the targeted victim, can lead to different forms of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.
In all reported Boarding School Abuse matters, a school administration’s megligence to completely, adequately report the crime to law enforcement and other authorities, or its additional negligence to research, address and deal completely with the matter amplifies the effects on the victim, the school population and possibly others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the media highlight these failures, including matters where the attacker quietly departs the school only to assume working elsewhere in a school environment.
Predatory Behavior
Many private schools pride themselves on their tiny, personal communities within a well-defined and secure campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much nearer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school situation. This could provide both opportunity and cover to the possible attacker and for the predatory behavior.
In some matters, the abuser may be a personable and popular individual, generally considered to be a positive addition to the school community. A targeted student may feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community is expressing special attention in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration in the school community, abuse allegations against these attackers are frequently met with doubt, disbelief, and resistance by the community. Often, abusers have boundary and judgment issues which turn into unusually friendly relationships with students that are past what are normally anticipated. This provides a predatory path and opportunity for the attack.
All abusers, to varying degrees, use predatory tactics that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a possible abuse victim. Below is a compilation of grooming behaviors exhibited by predators who are in a position of authority in relation to the subordinate student.
Grooming
Grooming is a significant part of a predator’s ploy. In a boarding school setting, a predator often works closely with small amounts of students, understanding every student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a target is identified and chosen, these vulnerabilities – like loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, can be systematically leveraged in the following manners:
Trust
A predator could first work to get the student’s trust. This step is most difficult to realize as private school communities are usually tight-knit and personal interaction is commonplace. Here, the predator is usually part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellness and achievement at the school.
abuse settlement
As a predator creates a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student will start to count on more and more on the predator for whatever need it is that the predator is leveraging and fulfilling. The victim might spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. Additionally to attention and affection, the potential victim may receive gifts from the predator, which may include valuable, gifts such as the promise of high marks, or a college recommendation letter. The reliance step is usually where the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.
Isolation
As the grooming progresses, the predator may try to isolate the potential victim. At school, this might mean after-hour get togethers, tutoring sessions, encounters in the dorm , one-on-one sports practice sessions, or various other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will start to de-sensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other behaviors which lead to sexual interaction. This might begin with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or communicating, with suggestive messages to determine the victim’s reaction to the progression. This might escalate until the relationship transforms to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is created, the predator will try to keep control over the student and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably try to manipulate the victim by inducing feelings of guilt, or even threats, or use the opposite tactic of continuing to have the victim feel special and desired. In any event, the predator will continue to exploit the victim with means available to maintain the inappropriate physical relationship.
Legacy on Abuse Survivors
When the grooming escalates as intended by the predator, the victim, being made to feel special, will probably respond positively to the actions. The predator, from these well-thought-out and performed grooming behaviors and activities, seeks to re-calibrate and remove the moral confines of the victim. Because the abuse survivor participated in the re-calibration, he often experiences deep feelings of guilt, initially blaming himself for the incident and hesitant to report it.
Additionally, beyond the abuse has been reported, survivors of private school abuse are frequently exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, such as bullying, isolation from their peers, or revenge from administrators. Especially at private schools, where education is rigorous, competition can be fierce and social circles small, survivors of abuse can be quickly isolated and socially abused. Exposed to those reactions, many private school abuse survivors who have revealed the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of the isolation and social persecution, report the abuse decades later. In either situation, the impact can be severe and life-altering.
Some abuse survivors suffer from long-term effects of the abuse that include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and trouble creating and maintaining healthy relationships. Individual therapy and support groups can help survivors get past those effects.
Legally, a survivor of boarding school abuse may recover financial compensation from the abuser and more frequently, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the predator, as well as failures or negligence in its process of reviewing and responding to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially review your situation and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are prepared to speak with you. It’s important for a survivor to realize that experiencing assault is not your fault. The attorneys at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the abuse to justice.
Student-on-student sexual assault is another type of abuse, that might be made worse by the school’s failure to provide a safe environment that allowed the assault to occur. Within the school community are students of different ages, maturity and experiences. Younger students might be subjected to the predatory actions of older, more mature students. This actions, along with peer-pressure applied on both the predator and the targeted victim, can lead to different forms of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.
In all reported Boarding School Abuse matters, a school administration’s megligence to completely, adequately report the crime to law enforcement and other authorities, or its additional negligence to research, address and deal completely with the matter amplifies the effects on the victim, the school population and possibly others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the media highlight these failures, including matters where the attacker quietly departs the school only to assume working elsewhere in a school environment.
Predatory Behavior
Many private schools pride themselves on their tiny, personal communities within a well-defined and secure campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much nearer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school situation. This could provide both opportunity and cover to the possible attacker and for the predatory behavior.
In some matters, the abuser may be a personable and popular individual, generally considered to be a positive addition to the school community. A targeted student may feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community is expressing special attention in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration in the school community, abuse allegations against these attackers are frequently met with doubt, disbelief, and resistance by the community. Often, abusers have boundary and judgment issues which turn into unusually friendly relationships with students that are past what are normally anticipated. This provides a predatory path and opportunity for the attack.
All abusers, to varying degrees, use predatory tactics that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a possible abuse victim. Below is a compilation of grooming behaviors exhibited by predators who are in a position of authority in relation to the subordinate student.
Grooming
Grooming is a significant part of a predator’s ploy. In a boarding school setting, a predator often works closely with small amounts of students, understanding every student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a target is identified and chosen, these vulnerabilities – like loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, can be systematically leveraged in the following manners:
Trust
A predator could first work to get the student’s trust. This step is most difficult to realize as private school communities are usually tight-knit and personal interaction is commonplace. Here, the predator is usually part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellness and achievement at the school.
abuse settlement
As a predator creates a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student will start to count on more and more on the predator for whatever need it is that the predator is leveraging and fulfilling. The victim might spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. Additionally to attention and affection, the potential victim may receive gifts from the predator, which may include valuable, gifts such as the promise of high marks, or a college recommendation letter. The reliance step is usually where the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.
Isolation
As the grooming progresses, the predator may try to isolate the potential victim. At school, this might mean after-hour get togethers, tutoring sessions, encounters in the dorm , one-on-one sports practice sessions, or various other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will start to de-sensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other behaviors which lead to sexual interaction. This might begin with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or communicating, with suggestive messages to determine the victim’s reaction to the progression. This might escalate until the relationship transforms to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is created, the predator will try to keep control over the student and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably try to manipulate the victim by inducing feelings of guilt, or even threats, or use the opposite tactic of continuing to have the victim feel special and desired. In any event, the predator will continue to exploit the victim with means available to maintain the inappropriate physical relationship.
Legacy on Abuse Survivors
When the grooming escalates as intended by the predator, the victim, being made to feel special, will probably respond positively to the actions. The predator, from these well-thought-out and performed grooming behaviors and activities, seeks to re-calibrate and remove the moral confines of the victim. Because the abuse survivor participated in the re-calibration, he often experiences deep feelings of guilt, initially blaming himself for the incident and hesitant to report it.
Additionally, beyond the abuse has been reported, survivors of private school abuse are frequently exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, such as bullying, isolation from their peers, or revenge from administrators. Especially at private schools, where education is rigorous, competition can be fierce and social circles small, survivors of abuse can be quickly isolated and socially abused. Exposed to those reactions, many private school abuse survivors who have revealed the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of the isolation and social persecution, report the abuse decades later. In either situation, the impact can be severe and life-altering.
Some abuse survivors suffer from long-term effects of the abuse that include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and trouble creating and maintaining healthy relationships. Individual therapy and support groups can help survivors get past those effects.
Legally, a survivor of boarding school abuse may recover financial compensation from the abuser and more frequently, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the predator, as well as failures or negligence in its process of reviewing and responding to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially review your situation and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are prepared to speak with you. It’s important for a survivor to realize that experiencing assault is not your fault. The attorneys at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the abuse to justice.
