Victim of physical or sexual abuse in school

Schumacher1

have you been a victim of physical or sexual abuse while in school?

The last few weeks have brought all this back to me.

I was abused in school by at least 3 teachers, at least one of them is still teaching.

I have contacted Gardai and the school and I will be making a statement on Tuesday.

We were regularly hit and punched by certain teachers, some teachers had sexual rubbing habits against you. One particular evil bastard had his metre stick which he loved giving you accross the knuckels to skim them, or palm of your hands. If you moved your hands, (lets face it when you're 10 years old...) he punched you and beat you. That bastard is still teaching in the school. I remember queueing for the shop and we had to order stuff in Irish, I got one punched to ground for no reason other than the fact that these people should have never been let near children.

Now I have had enough, and its time for them to be brought to justice, and for the parents that have kids in the school now to know that these monsters are still teaching.

I phoned the gardai and the current school principal on Friday.

I was very very agressive and not thinking clearly when I spoke to the principle, but he understood my anger.

Nevyn

Well done on taking steps to report and raise this issue, how much support do you have?
Have you considered getting in touch with http://www.oneinfour.org/
telephone 01 662 4070
email info@oneinfour.org
address 2 Holles Street Dublin

Have you been in touch with the dept of education and the patron/governing body/board of management of the school?

Schumacher1

Thaedydal wrote: »

Well done on taking steps to report and raise this issue, how much support do you have?
Have you considered getting in touch with http://www.oneinfour.org/
telephone 01 662 4070
email info@oneinfour.org
address 2 Holles Street Dublin

Have you been in touch with the dept of education and the patron/governing body/board of management of the school?

I have no support, hence this post to get others from the school to come forward as well.

No, I have not contacted any organisation yet but I will. I feel that because it's not sexual abuse that they will not take it as seriously.

It just came back so fresh in my head when I watched that video of the ex Mayor on Q and A.

Nevyn

It's just as serious and it seems you are suffering due to it all coming crashing back.
Child abuse is child abuse it doesnt' have to be sexual to be 'serious'.

While I understand you may feel it helpful to talk to others who suffered it too you may find many want to leave sleeping dogs lie and they won't be as helpful to you as talking
about what happened and dealing with your anger.

You do have every right to be angry but what you do with it can make a big difference.
I suggest you get in touch with the board of mangement for the school and request copies of thier policies on child abuse and making complaints and then follow on from there, you don't want to have a proceedural screw up mean that things are not dealt with, I would suggest you do the same with the dept of education.

LegacyUser

You give no idea when this happened ( or where).

I can understand. I went to school in Ireland, near Dublin, in end of 50's and into sixties. Corporal punishment was the norm and was used widely and daily. I understand what you might be feeling. However, can you turn the clock back.

I don't mean to excuse the teachers ( in my case all lay teachers not religious) but it was very much a society norm. Corporal punishment was normal in the home too. You suggest one teacher is still teaching. Assuming a 40 year career then they must have started teaching since 1969 and corporal punishment was only banned, I think, in the early 80s. If you are talking about that far back, then teachers will defend themselves by saying they just obeyed the rules at the time. (And I do know from experience that many teachers used corporal punishment sparingly while others seemed to enjoy it - but how do you prove that after so long )
You need to ask yourself what you want from raising it now. I am not saying you shouldn't, just that you need to have realistic expectations of the outcome.

Schumacher1

Boards will not let me publish any more information. They have edited the original post. One of the teachers abuse was in 1982.

The post was in AH, then taken down, then moved again.

This teacher was a monster who should never have been allowed near children.

The reason for the complaint is that he is still teaching, and now along with any other teachers (regardless of Corp Pun), needs to be prosecueted.

Unregistered wrote: »

Corporal punishment was the norm and was used widely and daily.

I don't mean to excuse the teachers ( in my case all lay teachers not religious) but it was very much a society norm.

If you are talking about that far back, then teachers will defend themselves by saying they just obeyed the rules at the time.

Are you happy for the nuns and priests and lay staff to use the excuse you have given

arybvtcw0eolkf

OP, I'm not going to go unregistered for this one.

I attended one of the schools mentioned in the report, and have only told one person over the last few years of the abuse we all suffered at the hands of certain Christian Brothers and one particular 'lay person'.

Reason why I'm posting this, and not going unregistered is to 'tip my hat to your bravery in coming forward with a complaint.

I'm not however, the passage of time has dulled my memory of exact events, dates and names. I'm sure an investigation would unearth it all, but I'm going to leave sleeping dogs lie.

Thankfully I was never sexually abused, the 'lay person' always made me feel uneasy, liked to touch your ass and be suggestive but thats as far as that went with me (however I heard he did face charges a few years ago but thats not mentioned inthe Ryan report so its maybe a rumour).

One Christian Brother met me by chance in St. Stephens Green (Dublin) when I was 'on the hop' from school one day, he gave me a bollicking then went on to ask about my sexual experiences (ffs I was about 12 or 13 at the time!), told me he was with a girl once but that he prefered boys and then went on to suggest masterbation.

I ran off and told a policeman at the top of Grafton St, nothing was done.

Anyway, I didn't intend going off on a rant - I applaud your bravery, now go get the bastards.

I should add that physical abuse was pretty bad and I don't use the excuse that it was the 'norm' back them to use the strap because not all the Brothers used it.

I was leathered & punched, and one brother used to kick us at the back of the knee to knock us over as punishment - done when the bastard could sneak up behind us.

Feel free to PM me if you wish.
.

cowzerp

In my primary there was 1 teacher who hit me a number of times, then i told him my brothers would come up and sort him out and he never hit me again, 1 time he picked me up and bashed me off the black board.

Edit, this was the late 80's

1 teacher was worse but all mental abuse rather than physical, he used to throw me out of the class everyday and mark my homework bad even when i'd get full marks, 1 time i done my work as neat as i could and got all the answers right and he made me repeat it again, my mother done the repeat and when i showed him he made me do it again and said it was messy and wrong, my mam went mad as she knew then that i was been victimised, this was way worse to me than the 1 who hit me, i dont mind him to much but the other fella makes my blood boil and made me be very anti teachers for the rest of my school life.

i heard he had a heart attack and as bad as it sounds it made me smile.

LegacyUser

As a previous unreg'd poster said, are you sure you know what you want from the outcome of all this? If it's revenge, well - only one of the teachers is still teaching, possibly only one still alive(?). I'm assuming he's drastically changed his teaching methods at this stage.
I don't for one second condone sexual abuse - it's appalling. But the corporal punishment............as it's been said, this was widespread around the country, it's just how things were. Doesn't make it right or wrong. It just means that these people were just doing what was done in every school up and down the country. I don't know, maybe you'd be better off going to counselling for all this, for yourself - do you really think it'll make you feel better to pull this out into the public domain and expose this man ? I get the impression from you he was only responsible for physical abuse not sexual - i still don't agree with it, but I'm not sure the outcome will be what you expect or want, and it may make you feel even worse..

Nevyn

Please be aware that we can not allow for the names of persons or schools, this not just for legal issues due to the site but also to make sure that there are not any way such information can be uses as a loop hole if anyone does press charges.

A lot of us who grew up during those times suffered this it was the norm unfortunately in a lot of schools.
From having dusters flung the length of the classroom, being hit over the head with the large black roll book,
being hit with rulers, yardstick and even the yard bell, never mind the emotional and mental abuse
and all while I was in 3rd and 4th class and all with the same bitter, twisted, dried up old harridan of a nun.
We were the last class she taught before she retired. A couple of years later when I was 13 after she had died
we had the chance to go visit her grave and I cried with relief and then spat on it.

_sparkie_

im only 18 and im doing the leaving this year so its not like i was in primary school in the 50 or something, i was there from about 1998-2003. alot of these cases are old and its good they are getting media attention but there are still offenders out there today 'teaching' your kids. i remember one of my teachers brought a student up to the front of the class and punched him in the face for talking down the back of class or something, that teacher was never even questioned about what he did and its not like that was an isolated outburst. for me the worst bit of it is that he got away with it for so long while everybody just told us to shut up because we were kids and we didnt know any better. if somebody did listen to us this asshole would be in prison instead of living out the rest of his days on tax payers money.

to the op, i hope you find comfort in knowing that this **** wont go on for much longer. people are actually listening to children now.

_sparkie_

cowzerp wrote: »

In my primary there was 1 teacher who hit me a number of times, then i told him my brothers would come up and sort him out and he never hit me again, 1 time he picked me up and bashed me off the black board.

Edit, this was the late 80's

1 teacher was worse but all mental abuse rather than physical, he used to throw me out of the class everyday and mark my homework bad even when i'd get full marks, 1 time i done my work as neat as i could and got all the answers right and he made me repeat it again, my mother done the repeat and when i showed him he made me do it again and said it was messy and wrong, my mam went mad as she knew then that i was been victimised, this was way worse to me than the 1 who hit me, i dont mind him to much but the other fella makes my blood boil and made me be very anti teachers for the rest of my school life.

i heard he had a heart attack and as bad as it sounds it made me smile.

that is the same kind of stuff my 'teacher' did, he just sat there all day reading the paper and shouting at us when we made any sound. i remember burning my uniform and all my books the day i left his class.

deisemum

There are still teachers that hit and punch pupils today. I know of several recent cases where teachers are hitting and punching pupils.

4 years ago my then 9 year old son was hit and punched a number of times before we found out if he didn't answer a question quickly enough or got an answer wrong. He wasn't the only pupil this teacher routinely assaulted yet other parents wouldn't even approach the principal to complain.

The abuse and threats we got from the principal and BOM were disgraceful. The principal told me straight out if I didn't drop my false allegation he had the backing of the parish priest and BOM to report me to social services and have me investigated. I have since found out this is the routine anytime anyone makes an allegation against the same teacher, the principal also tells whatever parent comes forward that there has never been a complaint made against the same teacher yet after we brought our complaint to the Gardai who were extremely helpful (can't praise them enough).

This teacher in now on record with the Gardai and DPP and I know of a more recent allegation where the same principal threatened a mother with the report you to social services threat. However the pupil had recorded some of the abuse on his mobile phone so when a solicitor's letter outlining the contents of the mobile phone etc the mother was paid off after she handed over the phone with the evidence, sign forms and drop the allegation.

Parents are being paid off. The teacher wasn't suspended at any stage and is still "teaching" children.

Personally I think the most sickening thing is how teachers close rank and will condone abuse in these times. I've got several family members who are teachers plus a few friends that are teachers and a number of them have told me that the unions leave them in no doubt that they must not speak out against a colleague.

I was still in secondary school when corporal punishment was banned. After this ban came into place I along with the rest of my class witnessed the brute of a teacher punch a boy in the face and split his mouth open. The boy had blood pumping and his face was a mess. This teacher is a vice principal in the same school today and still punches pupils but pays them off afterwards.

I know of so many cases where pupils have been assaulted in recent years.

LegacyUser

I feel it is dangerous to have an impression that because physical abuse was widespread it was the norm and somehow ok, and here lies the problem. If victims and society treated abuse for the serious implications it has on a person they would not be so quick to excuse it. Its wrong. Priests abused people years ago if any of them were still working today they deserve to be sacked for want of a better word. But if there is any inclination that a teacher has a history of abuse physical or sexual they are to be investigated and monitored very carefully.

Society is moving in a direction where there is zero tolerance for physical/hitting/slapping toward a child. We are smarter now and can deal with frustrated children better.

I hope physical abuse gets taken very seriously, this country has a terrible legacy of it and has led to the level of low self esteem many people suffer. Many parents have beaten their children and carried on this learned behaviour too, it still annoys me today when my mother says ah i gave the kids the oul wallop, when she beat us black and blue, its not ok and it should not be minimized.