Boarding School Abuse

Private School Abuse presents a wide-range of illegal and improper activities frequently perpetrated against students by school faculty members, administrators or employees regarding sexual assault of varying degrees. The attack might be a one-time, non-consensual attack or it can include numerous assaults within an continuing interaction. For example, an ongoing intimate relationship with a student, formed by the predatory actions of a faculty member, school administrator or employee and whether heading to physical consensual sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.

Student on student sexual assault is an additional form of abuse, that can be made worse by the school’s negligence to offer a safe environment that allowed the attack to occur. Within the school population are students of different ages, maturity and experiences. Immature students may be exposed to the predatory behavior of older, more mature students. This intent, along with peer-pressure applied on both the predator and the targeted victim, could lead to different forms of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all alleged Boarding School Assault situations, a school administration’s megligence to fully, immediately report the crime to law enforcement and other authorities, or its additional failure to investigate, address and deal fully with the matter amplifies the effects on the victim, the school community and potentially others. Recent Boarding School Abuse issues reported in the media exemplify these failures, including times when the perpetrator quietly leaves the school merely to assume working elsewhere in a school environment.

Predatory Behavior
Many boarding schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities inside a well-defined and safe campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are frequently much closer and familiar with students than might be expected in a non-boarding school setting. This could provide both opportunity and cover for the would-be abuser and for the predatory behavior.

In some matters, the abuser may be a personable and popular person, generally thought to be a enhancement to the school community. A targeted victim may feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community is expressing special attention in him or her. Because of this popularity and involvement in the school community, attack accusations against these predators are often met with doubt, non-belief, and resistance by the community. Frequesntly, abusers have boundary and judgment problems which turn into oddly friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are commonly anticipated. This provides a predatory pathway and opportunity for the abuse.

Most abusers, to differing amounts, use predatory methods that are generally known as “grooming,” or targeting a potential abuse victim. Following is a list of grooming methods 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 often works closely with small numbers of students, understanding each student’s needs and vulnerabilities. Once a victim is identified and selected, these vulnerabilities – such as being lonely, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, may be systematically leveraged in the following ways:

Trust

A predator will initially work to get the student’s trust. This step is most difficult to see as private school communities are often tight-knit and personal engagement is commonplace. Here, the predator is likely part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellness and success at the school.
Reliance
As a predator creates a trusting relationship with the potential student-victim, the student may start to rely more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is exploiting and fulfilling. The student will spend more time with the predator, feeling more comfortable with the relationship. In addition to attention and affection, the potential victim may receive gifts from the predator, which may include valuable, presents like the promise of high marks, or a university recommendation letter. The reliance step is mainly when the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

As the grooming continues, the predator may work to isolate the potential victim. At school, this could mean late get togethers, tutoring sessions, encounters in the dorm , one-on-one athletic training sessions, or other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will start to de-sensitize the student from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other behaviors that lead to sexual interaction. This might start with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or communicating, with suggestive language to determine the victim’s reaction to the progression. This will escalate until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is established, the predator will work to maintain control over the victim and the continuing abuse. The predator will likely try to manipulate the victim by inducing emotions of shame, or even threats, or employ the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator may continue to exploit the victim by whatever means necessary to maintain the inappropriate physical relationship.

Legacy on Abuse Survivors

While the grooming increases as planned by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will likely respond positively to the behaviors. The predator, from these well-thought-out and performed grooming behaviors and activities, tries to re-work and remove the moral boundaries of the victim. Because the victim participated in this re-calibration, he frequently has deep feelings of shame, initially blaming herself for the incident and hesitant to report it.

Additionally, beyond the abuse has been revealed, victims of private school abuse are often exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, such as bullying, isolation from their peers, or revenge from staff. Especially at private schools, where academics are stringent, competition can be intense and social circles small, survivors of abuse could be quickly isolated and socially persecuted. Exposed to those reactions, many private school abuse survivors that have revealed the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of the isolation and social abuse, report the abuse a while later. In either case, the impact can be severe and life-altering.

Some abuse victims suffer from long-term effects of the abuse that include depression, anxiety, ptsd, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and difficulty establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. Individual therapy and support groups can assist survivors overcome these effects.

Legally, a survivor of boarding school abuse can recover financial compensation from the predator and more frequently, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the abuse, as well as failures or negligence in its method of reviewing and replying to the survivor’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially discuss your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are ready to talk with you. It is important for a victim to realize that experiencing assault is not your fault. The attorneys at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those responsible for the assault to justice.