Private School Abuse

Private School Abuse presents a series of criminal and lurid activities frequently committed on students by school faculty members, administrators or employees regarding sexual assault of varying degrees. The assault might be a one-time, non-consensual attack or it can involve numerous assaults during an continuing interaction. For example, an continuing intimate encounter with a student, created by the predatory behavior of a faculty member, school administrator or staff and whether heading to physical agreed sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.

Student-on-student sexual assault is an additional form of abuse, that may be made worse by the school’s negligence to offer a safe environment that allowed the assault to happen. Within the school community are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Immature students might be subjected to the predatory actions of older, more mature students. Their behavior, coupled with peer-pressure exerted to both the attacker and the targeted victim, could lead to different types of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all reported Boarding School Assault situations, a school administration’s megligence to entirely, adequately report the assault to police and other authorities, or its additional failure 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 issues reported in the press exemplify these failures, including situations where the perpetrator quietly departs the campus only to assume working elsewhere in a school environment.

Predatory Behavior
Many private schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities inside a well-defined and secure campus. In this environment, faculty, administrators and staff are frequently much closer and familiar with students than might 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 situations, the attacker could be a personable and popular person, generally thought to be a enhancement to the school community. A targeted student could feel flattered that a well-liked superior in the school community has expressed special attention in him or her. Because of this popularity and involvement in the school community, attack allegations against these attackers are often met with doubt, disbelief, and resistance from the community. Frequesntly, abusers have distance and morality issues which manifest themselves in oddly friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are normally expected. This creates a predatory path and opportunity for the abuse.

Most abusers, to varying degrees, employ predatory tactics that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a potential abuse victim. Following is a list of grooming behaviors used by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the subordinate student.

Grooming
Grooming is a significant part of a predator’s method. In a boarding school situation, a predator usually works closely with small numbers of students, knowing every student’s needs and vulnerabilities. Once a victim is identified and chosen, these vulnerabilities – such as loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, might be systematically exploited in the following ways:

Trust

A predator may initially work to gain the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to realize as private school communities are often tight-knit and personal interaction is commonplace. Here, the predator is likely part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellbeing and achievement at the school.
Reliance
As a predator establishes a trusting relationship with the potential student-victim, the student might begin to count on more and more on the predator for whatever need it is that the predator is leveraging and fulfilling. The student might spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. Additionally to attention and kindness, the possible victim may receive gifts from the predator, including valuable, gifts such as the guarantee of high marks, or a college recommendation letter. The reliance stage is mainly when the predatory behavior is distinguishable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

As the grooming continues, the predator will try to isolate the potential victim. At school, this may mean after-hour get togethers, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dormitory , one-on-one sports practice sessions, or various other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will start to de-sensitize the student from reacting negatively to touching, caressing and other actions that lead to sexual interaction. This might start with breaching the physical-touch barrier, or communicating, with suggestive language to determine the victim’s reaction to the advancement. This could escalate until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
Once the sexual relationship is established, the predator may try to maintain control of the victim and the continuing abuse. The predator will probably seek to manipulate the victim by introducing emotions of shame, or even threats, or employ the opposite strategy of continuing to have the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator will keep trying to exploit the victim by whatever means necessary to maintain the immoral physical relationship.

Legacy on Abuse Victims

While the grooming increases as planned by the predator, the victim, being made to feel special, will likely respond positively to the actions. The predator, through these well-thought-out and performed grooming behaviors and activities, tries to re-calibrate and remove the moral confines of the victim. Because the abuse survivor participated in the re-calibration, she often experiences deep feelings of shame, initially blaming herself for the incident and likely not to report it.

Additionally, after the abuse has been reported, survivors of boarding school abuse are frequently subjected to discreet social pressure and intimidation, such as bullying, alienation from their peers, or revenge from administrators. Especially at boarding schools, where academics are rigorous, competition can be intense and social circles small, victims of abuse may be readily isolated and socially persecuted. Exposed to such reactions, many boarding school abuse survivors that have reported the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of the isolation and social persecution, report the abuse a while later. In either situation, the legacy can be significant and life-altering.

Some abuse victims suffer from long-term effects of the abuse including depression, anxiety, ptsd, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty creating and keeping healthy relationships. Individual therapy and support groups could assist victims get past those effects.

Legally, a survivor of boarding school abuse may win financial compensation from the predator and more commonly, from the school for its failure to protect the student from the abuse, as well as failures or negligence in its process of reviewing and responding to the survivor’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially share your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are prepared to speak with you. It’s important for a victim to remember that being a victim is not your fault. The attorneys at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the assault to justice.