Point of view

Horace Mann hasn’t learned

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George Santayana said in “The Life of Reason,” “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  When it comes to sexual abuse, harassment or assault, the statement should read “Those who are unwilling to investigate and understand the past are condemned to repeat it.” Penn State, Horace Mann, Yeshiva High School, overwhelmed by disclosures of sexual abuse, each scrambled to protect their brand image and reputation by installing “best practices” policies.  

Best practices and new policies notwithstanding, I believe that real change will not come until we answer an important question: what embedded in each institution’s history and culture prevented it from protecting children under its care even after, in the case of Horace Mann and Penn State, receiving reports that teachers were preying on students?  Only when schools and institutions examine that culture and determine if it has really changed can they protect children from abuse in the present.  

This past February, Horace Mann’s college placement officer was charged with aggravated harassment for allegedly threatening to send naked photos of his ex-girlfriend to the hospital where she works as a nurse.  According to the complaint, he texted her explicit images he had saved on his phone along with the messages “good luck loser” and “can’t wait for the folks to see this one.”  

The story was covered by the tabloids. He kept his job. What made the story newsworthy was that Horace Mann, my alma mater, has been in the public eye since the New York Times publication of “Prep School Predators,” the story that disclosed a three decades history of sexual abuse involving more than a dozen teachers and sixty students. I was one of those students.

Horace Mann, sexual abuse, Daniel Shapiro, Prep School Predators
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