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Boarding schools: Is it wise to send your young child away from home? Boarding schools: Is it wise to send your young child away from home?
(about 11 hours later)
"People think that child sexual abuse is something that happens to some other person's child at some other school," says Jonathan West, a leading campaigner for tougher law on child protection. Judging by the enormous reaction to Alex Renton's examination of abuse at his and other private schools in the Observer magazine last week, the physical and psychological mistreatment of children inside institutions is deeply concerning to many and shocking numbers in this country have experience of it."People think that child sexual abuse is something that happens to some other person's child at some other school," says Jonathan West, a leading campaigner for tougher law on child protection. Judging by the enormous reaction to Alex Renton's examination of abuse at his and other private schools in the Observer magazine last week, the physical and psychological mistreatment of children inside institutions is deeply concerning to many and shocking numbers in this country have experience of it.
Yet people, including the education secretary and leading schools' groups, believe that times have changed. Thanks to modern regulation, the mistreatment, sexual abuse and cruelty that tarnished the education and care system throughout the 20th century is near impossible now.Yet people, including the education secretary and leading schools' groups, believe that times have changed. Thanks to modern regulation, the mistreatment, sexual abuse and cruelty that tarnished the education and care system throughout the 20th century is near impossible now.
This is dangerously complacent. Recent revelations about the behaviour of a trusted teacher at the private Southbank International School in London show that even the best-run – and most expensive – institutions are still vulnerable to predatory paedophiles. And so are children.This is dangerously complacent. Recent revelations about the behaviour of a trusted teacher at the private Southbank International School in London show that even the best-run – and most expensive – institutions are still vulnerable to predatory paedophiles. And so are children.
There are changes in the law that should have happened long ago. New legislation making emotional neglect of children an offence is expected in the Queen's speech in June, at last bringing Britain in line with the rest of the world. But just as gaping a hole in this country's child protection system is an extraordinary lack of a duty to report the abuse of a child.There are changes in the law that should have happened long ago. New legislation making emotional neglect of children an offence is expected in the Queen's speech in June, at last bringing Britain in line with the rest of the world. But just as gaping a hole in this country's child protection system is an extraordinary lack of a duty to report the abuse of a child.
Currently, if an adult is accused of an offence against a child within a school or any institution, there is no statutory obligation to report it to the police or an independent authority. In effect, this permits headteachers and other officials to act as judges: too often, campaigners say, cronyism or laziness allow a complaint to be sidelined without proper investigation.Currently, if an adult is accused of an offence against a child within a school or any institution, there is no statutory obligation to report it to the police or an independent authority. In effect, this permits headteachers and other officials to act as judges: too often, campaigners say, cronyism or laziness allow a complaint to be sidelined without proper investigation.
In the children's homes of North Wales, in Rochdale and in the private schools of the rich, we have seen enough evidence of adults in authority acting in concert with each other to promote and cover up appalling crimes against children. This must stop; a mandatory duty to report allegations of abuse to an external authority should become law. In much of Europe and Northern Ireland, it already is. There is no need to wait for any inquiry into abuse to set out the necessity.In the children's homes of North Wales, in Rochdale and in the private schools of the rich, we have seen enough evidence of adults in authority acting in concert with each other to promote and cover up appalling crimes against children. This must stop; a mandatory duty to report allegations of abuse to an external authority should become law. In much of Europe and Northern Ireland, it already is. There is no need to wait for any inquiry into abuse to set out the necessity.
But, as Renton's article pointed out, there is a much wider problem of potential culpable neglect that exists beyond the stories of appalling abuses. Modern psychiatry is clear that it is damaging to a child's emotional development to remove them from those who care and love them and, crucially, can provide the physical affection and reassurance that is crucial as children grow. No boarding school, however well run, can provide that: one by-product of our new sensitivities is that no touching, let alone hugs, is allowed.But, as Renton's article pointed out, there is a much wider problem of potential culpable neglect that exists beyond the stories of appalling abuses. Modern psychiatry is clear that it is damaging to a child's emotional development to remove them from those who care and love them and, crucially, can provide the physical affection and reassurance that is crucial as children grow. No boarding school, however well run, can provide that: one by-product of our new sensitivities is that no touching, let alone hugs, is allowed.
An astonishing number of British parents still send pre-teen children away to boarding school – about 4,000 of them are 10 years old or younger. Numbers have not declined in 15 years. Even if we do get the necessary safeguards of mandatory reporting and a new law on emotional abuse, parents should be questioning the need to risk their child's happy development by sending them away. If they are unhappy, are you sure you would know? As a reader commented: "When you give your child to a stranger who does not love them, you take a gamble. If your child is miserable, then you are neglecting them. Can you live with that?"An astonishing number of British parents still send pre-teen children away to boarding school – about 4,000 of them are 10 years old or younger. Numbers have not declined in 15 years. Even if we do get the necessary safeguards of mandatory reporting and a new law on emotional abuse, parents should be questioning the need to risk their child's happy development by sending them away. If they are unhappy, are you sure you would know? As a reader commented: "When you give your child to a stranger who does not love them, you take a gamble. If your child is miserable, then you are neglecting them. Can you live with that?"
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