More Sex and Scandal
That got your attention, didn't it?
But this time, the scandal is at a high school—my old high school, as a matter of fact, the Groton School, in Groton, Massachusetts. A few years ago, an embittered male student raised allegations of sexual abuse at Groton, although sexual harassment might be a better term for it. (Oddly, the alleged perpetrators were also boys, which raised all sorts of stereotypes about prep schools. None of which were true when I went there, and no, I'm not just saying that.)
Anyway, the father of the student was furious with the way the school had handled the matter, and all of a sudden, the New York Post began running salacious Page Six items about buggery (well, not really, but that was the implication) at a hoity-toity prep school (and I guess Groton is pretty hoity-toity, although somehow everyone there, including myself, manages to feel like loners and outsiders).
Terrible publicity for the school, of course, which was such an easy target for the Post that it could do little to fight back. Then the matter got in the hands of an ambitious district attorney who sensed an easy mark, and now Groton has "pled guilty," as USA Today puts it, to not reporting allegations of sexual abuse.
Groton paid a $1250 fine, which tells you something about how serious its alleged offense was. Still, a big story in USA Today—"Elite Prep School Pleads Guilty in Sex Abuse Case"—isn't good for any school.
All I can say is that Groton's getting a raw deal on this one... As it happens, I doubt I'll ever be able to afford to send my kids there. But if I could, I would. Without hesitation.
