Boarding School Abuse

Private School Abuse denotes a range of illegal and lurid actions commonly perpetrated against students by school faculty members, administrators or staff involving sexual assault of varying degrees. The attack can be a one-time, non-consensual attack or it can involve numerous assaults within an continuing interaction. For example, an ongoing intimate relationship with a student, spawned by the predatory actions of a faculty member, school administrator or employee and whether leading to physical agreed sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.

Student on student sexual assault is another type of abuse, which can be made worse by the school’s negligence to provide a safe environment that allowed the attack to happen. Inside the school community are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Immature students may be subjected to the predatory actions of older, more mature students. Their behavior, along with peer-pressure exerted to both the predator and the targeted victim, may lead to different types of abuse including sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all alleged Boarding School Abuse situations, a school administration’s megligence to completely, adequately report the assault to law enforcement and other authorities, or its further failure to research, address and deal fully with the situation increases the effects on the victim, the school population and potentially others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the media exemplify these failures, including situations where the attacker quietly leaves the campus merely to assume employment somewhere else in a school environment.

Predatory Behavior
Most private 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 nearer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school setting. This can create both opportunity and cover to the possible attacker and for the predatory behavior.

In some matters, the abuser may be a likeable and popular individual, generally thought to be a positive addition to the school community. A targeted victim 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 into the school community, attack allegations against these attackers are often met with distrust, non-belief, and resistance by the community. Frequesntly, abusers have boundary and morality problems which turn into oddly friendly relationships with students that are past what are commonly anticipated. This provides a predatory path and opportunity for the abuse.

Most abusers, to differing amounts, employ predatory methods that are generally known as “grooming,” or targeting a possible abuse victim. Below is a compilation of grooming behaviors used by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the student.

Grooming
Grooming is a main part of a predator’s method. In a boarding school setting, a predator usually works closely with small numbers of students, knowing every student’s needs and vulnerabilities. Once a target is identified and selected, these vulnerabilities – such as loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, could be systematically leveraged in the following manners:

Trust

A predator might first work to get the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to see as boarding school communities are usually tight-knit and personal interaction is commonplace. Here, the attacker is likely part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellness and achievement at the school.
Reliance
As a predator creates a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student may begin to count on more and more on the predator for whatever need it is that the predator is exploiting and fulfilling. The victim might spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. Additionally to attention and affection, the possible victim might receive gifts from the predator, which may include valuable, gifts like the promise of high marks, or a college recommendation letter. The reliance step is mainly when the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

While the grooming continues, the predator may try to isolate the student. At school, this might mean late meetings, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dorm , one-on-one athletic training sessions, or other such circumstances.
Sexualization
The predator will begin to de-sensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to touching, caressing and other behaviors that lead to sexual interaction. This could start with breaking the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive language to determine the victim’s reaction to the advancement. This could increase until the relationship transforms to one of a physical, sexual nature.
Maintenance
As the sexual relationship is created, the predator may try to maintain control of the student and the continuing interaction. The predator will likely try to manipulate the victim by inducing feelings of guilt, or possibly threats, or use the opposite strategy of continuing to have the victim feel special and desired. In any event, the predator might continue to exploit the victim by whatever means available to maintain the immoral physical relationship.

Legacy on Abuse Victims

When the grooming escalates as intended by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will likely respond affirmatively to the behaviors. The predator, through these well planned and executed grooming behaviors and activities, seeks to re-calibrate and remove the moral boundaries of the targeted student. Because the abuse survivor participated in this re-calibration, she frequently has deep feelings of guilt, initially blaming himself for the incident and hesitant to report it.

Furthermore, after the abuse has been revealed, survivors of private school abuse are often exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, such as being bullied, alienation from their peers, or retaliation from administrators. Especially at boarding schools, where education is rigorous, competition can be intense and social circles small, survivors of abuse can be quickly isolated and socially abused. Exposed to such reactions, many boarding school abuse survivors that have reported the abuse leave school. Others, faced with the prospect of the isolation and social abuse, report the abuse decades later. In either case, the legacy can be severe and lasting.

Some abuse victims suffer from long-term effects of the abuse including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, disturbed sleeping and eating patterns, and trouble creating and maintaining healthy relationships. Individualized therapy and support groups may assist victims overcome these effects.

Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse could receive financial compensation from the abuser and more commonly, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the abuse, as well as failures or deficiencies in its method 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 situation and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are ready to talk with you. It’s important for a survivor to realize that being a victim is not your fault. The lawyers at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those who committed the the assault to justice.