'A boy was asked to suck another boy's penis'

The Star,February 20 2009 at 06:26AM,By Angelique Serrao

Education and child experts have revealed to The Star that the initiation ceremony at Parktown Boys' High School earlier this month was not an isolated incident, and occurred frequently in South African high schools and universities.

Kathy Callaghan of the Governor's Alliance, a parent organisation, said she frequently received reports from parents whose children were being physically abused and bullied at school.

"One of the common traits is that every parent wants to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation, but the truth is that if more parents come forward, then this practice would stop," Callaghan said.

She added that there was a very active old-boys network that not only threatened children who had been victims, but also their parents if they reported the incidents. The Star has been inundated with hundreds of calls, text messages and emails from parents who have experienced the heartache of seeing their sons go through these abusive situations at school, but fear their names being made public because of victimisation.

Parents and pupils have contacted The Star to speak out about their experiences. A 16-year-old was subjected to so much physical abuse in the Parktown Boys' hostel that he is now seeing a psychologist and is on medication.

Other parents have reported that some initiation ceremonies also contained sexual abuse. One boy was asked to suck another boy's penis. One mother said both her sons in Grade 8 were forced to watch a pornographic movie and had to masturbate together in a room.

"My main question is: why is this being kept so silent? It has to come out once and for all," Callaghan said, adding that keeping abuse hidden could lead to bigger problems for children.

She knows of one case where a teenager was beaten two years ago. He told his parents, who opened a case against the school, but because of victimisation, it was withdrawn.

The teenager killed himself a month ago because of the pain it had caused him, Callaghan said. She has also heard of headmasters challenging parents who lay criminal charges, saying, "We know how to deal with those".

"This whole initiation/ bullying thing is unacceptable. People keep on saying it has been happening for years, so it must be okay, but just because it has been happening doesn't mean it is right," she said.

One mother told The Star that she had to take her son out of a boys' school in Pretoria last year because he was subjected to violent initiation ceremonies whichwere dismissed by the school, instead of being taken seriously.

The mother said she had heard through a network of
parents that many have had to take their sons out of boys' schools in Gauteng because of violent initiations.

Joan van Niekerk, the national co-ordinator of Childline, said the Parktown Boys' incident was not an initiation, but rather a form of bullying and an abuse of power.

Their call centre had been inundated with reports of bullying, mostly at boys' schools. The Department of Education's director-general has said this kind of activity was strictly prohibited and has urged parents to call the department's hotline and report any incidents.

Calls can be made anonymously.

SA Human Rights Commission chairperson Jody Kollapen said letters had been sent to Parktown Boys' and the Department of Education asking them what they would be doing about the incidents and asking them to put guidelines in place to ensure it won't happen again.

Call Childline on 08000-55-555; Report any incidents, even if you choose to remain anonymous, to the department's hotline on 0800-20-29-33.

Parktown Boy's High jinx

http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page276670?oid=296811&sn=Detail

Moneyweb - Out to lunch by David Bullard, 11 June 2009 02:07

Life must be tough for Pene Kimber, courageous mother who blew the whistle on her son's brutal initiation ceremony at Parktown Boy's High. Life is probably even tougher for her son who probably wishes he could change his surname and re-emerge somewhere with a new identity.

Mrs Kimber has had to endure insults from other school parents, hostile letters to the newspapers and a complete lack of sympathy from her son's former headmaster who accuses her of having a vendetta against the school. Despite all of this she has fought on and deserves the support of decent people. When it appears that you are fighting a lone battle it's good to know that someone is on your side. As a mother, it was quite natural for Pene Kimber to be protective towards her son who had been bloodied and bruised in what is apparently a proud tradition at Parktown Boy's. She wouldn't have been much of a mother if she had just laughed at his bloodstained underpants and quoted Kipling to him. However, unlike some other parents she decided to take the matter further because, in her opinion, what happened was way beyond what is acceptable for a school initiation ceremony. For heavens sake, if South Africa introduced public floggings for criminals there would be an outcry. This was a private flogging, quite possibly for the sexual gratification of those taking part.

At my boarding school we also had various initiation ceremonies. They generally involved humiliation, nudity, discomfort and a typically pubescent fixation on the male genitalia. If you made it into the rugby 1st team initiation was unavoidable but if you were one of those who were up for an initiation ceremony simply because you had become a fifth former (2^nd year) then you might escape initiation if you could convince those handing out the treatment that you were asthmatic and might not survive a naked run around the rugby pitch on a cold November day. The initiation was a rite of passage and once done you were part of the gang. The embarrassment and humiliation was over and then your torturers shook your hand and welcomed you to the world of the senior boys. No masters were involved (they knew when they were happening and made themselves scarce) and the incredible violence that seems to be the norm at Parktown Boy's High simply didn't exist. This is the extraordinary thing about this particular case and the reason Mrs Kimber deserves support. The involvement of masters and the Lord of the Flies sadism of those who thrashed their fellow pupils with cricket bats until they drew blood is quite extraordinary in what I assume is regarded as a privileged learning environment.

The headmaster has unconvincingly argued, as have some of the parents of the boys who have been charged, that this is a proud tradition of the school and therefore not subject to the normal assault laws. In parts of the world stoning a woman suspected of adultery is regarded as a proud tradition but that doesn't make it any more acceptable. In other parts of the world you can be found guilty of a crime and receive the death penalty purely on the basis of a complaint that someone has laid...often without foundation.

The argument put forward on a radio talk show was that the strapping lads who administered the beatings could have the rest of their lives ruined if they are charged. I find it hard to believe that they didn't know that what they were doing was criminal. They were obviously hoping that the school's proud tradition of thuggery and the support of the headmaster would send the fuzz packing. Vilify Mrs Kimber and she will slink away was the tactic.

The problem is that little bullies grow up to be big bullies if they think they can get away with it. You can find them in business and in politics and you can bet your bottom dollar that the sort of people who enjoy bullying their employees had their early training at school.

A prison sentence may be a little excessive for the boys concerned so perhaps they should all be referred for psychiatric evaluation and given two years community service. The headmaster, on the other hand, should be made to publicly apologise on his knees to Mrs Kimber and her son. Since he is clearly unfit to run a school maybe he should be transferred to C Max prison where he could mete out punishment to those more deserving of a sharp whack on the buttocks.

Violence at Parktown Boys' High School is nothing new

Louis Greenberg. (http://book.co.za/bookchat/topic/4577)

I'm delighted that the disgraceful "initiation" practices at Parktown Boys' High School have made it into the media and caused outrage among parents.

I don't usually admit publically that I attended that school, because it is nothing to be proud of. What I am proud of is unlearning all the crap they tried to instil in me - a process which wasted five years of my post-school life which should otherwise have been fecund ones. I attribute none of my social ability, my artistic success, my human decency to that school - what they tried to teach me was aggression and uniformity, and that if something wasn't done on a sport field it wasn't worth anything. If you didn't do it on a sport field, you weren't worth anything.

The Parktown Boys Initiation Saga

I have to admit, the latest escalation in the unfortunate series of events surrounding the initiation that occurred at Parktown Boys’ in February caught me by surprise. I had assumed that, after the raft of disciplinary hearings, counselling sessions, rehabilitation programs and the intervention and subsequent satisfaction of the Department of Education, that the story was finally over. So I really did not expect what happened yesterday, when 11 Matric students from the school were arrested and formally charged with assault.

Frankly, I think this is insane. What the boys did was wrong, I don’t think anybody disputes that, but I don’t believe it was sufficiently wrong to warrant being criminally charged with assault, nor do I believe this is fair after they have already been through a disciplinary process that satisfied the Department of Education.

But let me offer some background for those who might be new to the story. Late at night on February 2nd, twelve Matric students roused fourteen Standard 9s from their beds in the hostel and sneaked them out to a quiet part of the school where they carried out a traditional initiation practice to supposedly welcome them as boarding seniors. During this, the Standard 9s had to strip naked and apply Deep Heat to their genitalia. They also had to run a gauntlet made up of the twelve Matric students, each one wielding a bat or hockey stick, who hit them one by one on the rear as they passed. Once through this gauntlet, the Std. 9s were considered to have ‘graduated’ as seniors of the boarding house and were permitted the privileges that seniors enjoy such as having their own toasters and kettles in their rooms.

Needless to say, the whole thing was unnecessary and stupid, and falling back on the excuse that it’s a tradition that has always been done this way is insufficient justification. Times have changed and what used to be acceptable is no longer so. But does it meet the severity of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, the crime for which the boys have been charged? I don’t think so. There was clearly no intent to cause lasting harm, with all the Matrics having been through the same process in their Std. 9 year and evidently believing they had suffered no adverse side-effects. And from what I’ve heard from those involved, the process was voluntary with an option to sit it out. By all indications, this was not some malicious attempt to bully younger students, but rather the sort of silly over-the-top taken-too-far after-hours nonsense that pretty much all boys-only boarding schools get up to. Trust me I know; I went to one. This seems to be borne out by the fact that the rest of the Std. 9s who were initiated have refused to testify against the Matric students and are all apparently overwhelmingly supportive of them.

But the key thing to remember here is that once the school found out what had happened, through a parent informing the deputy headmaster, it did the right thing. The Headmaster ordered an immediate investigation and disciplinary process to uncover what had happened and punish those responsible, as the school has long had a formal ban on initiations. They discovered that no teachers had been involved, but the twelve Matrics readily admitted culpability and went through a round of disciplinary proceedings, many losing privileges in the process and were sent through rehabilitation programs. The Department of Education was involved too at some point, unfortunately placing a gag order on the Parktown Headmaster in the process, but evidently waking away happy that justice had been served and that sufficient steps had been taken to prevent a re-occurrence of the event. The first of these steps occurred before Pene Kimber, the mother of the boy who complained, took her story to the press and caused a media uproar.

It was after this stage that this should have ended. Justice had been served, the school had forcefully re-iterated its policy against initiation and done what it could to prevent it from happening again. To take this further, and charge these boys with a severe crime in a move that seems motivated entirely out of a desire for revenge seems to me to be a step too far and distinctly unfair on those involved. Not only are they a week from their prelims and a mere couple of months from writing their finals, but the consequences of this for their future lives and careers could be disastrous. Even if their sentences are relatively light, the criminal record would disallow them from being able to pursue certain careers in law and accounting, would count against them in any other employment scenario and would prevent them from being able to apply for visas to travel to countries like the US and UK. Further, even if they are acquitted of all charges, their names and faces will almost certainly be printed on Friday and will forever come up in Google searches by future employers. These are enormously serious charges, and I honestly wonder if Pene Kimber is fully aware of the harm she is causing here.

I’m glad the initiation practices have come to an end, but I can’t support what these twelve young men are now being put through. I hope they are acquitted of all charges.

Darren (http://commentary.co.za/archives/2009/06/03/the-parktown-boys-initiation-saga)

Kimber's brave stand may have averted disaster

The Star,June 24, 2009 Edition 1

Last Tuesday I was watching Touched by an Angel on TV. The story centred on a boy who was being continually bullied at school and was planning revenge by planting a bomb in the school.

On his way to plant the bomb, he was confronted by a bully, who pushed him around and caused him to drop what he was carrying. Those around laughed while he bent to pick up his belongings, which humiliated him and strengthened his resolve to plant the bomb. I thought of the Parktown Boys saga, which has greatly distressed me.

In America, remember Columbine, and in Germany very recently, boys have gone back to their schools and shot up pupils and teachers. This has not yet happened in South Africa, thankfully.

I believe Pene Kimber is extremely brave to have taken a stand. Not an easy one and certainly a very lonely one.

I know from experience that most boys would rather die than have Mom go to "bat for them".

Who knows what future major disasters may have been averted by Pene's courage at this time.

Shirley Ingleby

Joburg

Is Clarke not aware of law?

The Star, June 24, 2009 Edition 1

THE PARKTOWN Boys saga has gotten out of hand.

While everyone has been running around worrying about the impact of initiation, we seem to have forgotten the fundamental law that lies under the prevention of such acts at any school.

Let's start with the actual Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Chapter 12 section 1c states that everyone must be protected from all forms of violence.

Now let's move on to the Schools Act of 1997, which states in Chapter 10 that no one may administer corporal punishment at a school to any learner - no one - not even another learner.

This is further enforced by the Abolition of Corporal Punishment Act of 1997, which again prevents violent school initiation.

The headmaster of the school, Tom Clarke, must have been aware of these laws. If he wasn't, why is he a headmaster then?

I say good for the mother of the victim. She is teaching her son the value of the law.

Councillor Ann Barnes

DA Joburg

Principal is to blame for criticism of school

The Star, June 24, 2009 Edition 1

Tom Clarke's article "How we actually dealt with alleged initiation abuses" (The Star, June 16) fails to justify his handling of the Parktown Boys' High debacle, and proves that Pene Kimber's accusations are true.

Mr Clarke makes it obvious that his first action was to minimise the incident and sweep it under the carpet.

Look at his own time line: Mr Clarke learnt of the incident on February 9 from a victim's parent; on the 11th his subordinate informed parents of the affected children by e-mail; and on the 13th, without making the investigation that would have revealed the horrifying extent of the bullying, Clarke gave the perpetrators a slap on the wrist.

Not until the courageous Ms Kimber confronted him on the 16th did Mr Clarke learn "that the incident was more serious than (he) originally thought". Even when The Star exposed the cover-up on the 17th he tried to confuse the issue by accusing Ms Kimber of pursuing a vendetta against the school. Only when he had no other choice did he investigate and punish the bullies adequately.

The fiasco resulted from a failure in school management. The head boy was badly selected, the hostel teachers ignored departmental regulations and the hostel head failed to supervise his staff and charges properly.

But the worst failure of all was that of Mr Clarke.

The failures of the staff members were largely ones of omission. Mr Clarke's failure was one of commission; as head of the school, he chose to ignore his duty to investigate fully, punish the perpetrators appropriately and reassure parents. Instead, he tried to cover up the incident. Thanks to Ms Kimber, this failed. Mr Clarke - not Ms Kimber - is responsible for the opprobrium heaped on the school.

Michael Mellody

Emmarentia, Joburg