Only one side of the story has been told - that of Ms Pene Kimber - and the impression has been created that the school condones such actions and that we will allow them to continue.
The chronological sequence of the events has been inaccurately reported. This immediately puts the school in a bad light. It reflects Ms Kimber's version of events and we were never asked to verify this.
Ms Kimber, it is reported, only decided to go to the media when it became clear to her that the school was unwilling to take action on her complaint that her son had been assaulted that night.
The reality is that we were aware of the incident before she was and told her (and all the parents of boys involved) a week before the first article appeared. The father of one of the other boys had informed me of the incident and I instructed Mr Saunders, the deputy principal in charge of the boarding house, to investigate it.
This was on Monday February 9. The Grade 12 boys involved were all suspended immediately and sent home, being told to attend a disciplinary hearing on Friday February 13.
The parents of Grade 11 boys involved were informed of the incident on Wednesday February 11 in an e-mail from Mr Saunders, in which it was stated: "The Grade 12 learners decided they would initiate the current Grade 11 boys in order for them to earn the right to have appliances in their rooms.
"This practice is totally prohibited by management, a fact that has been communicated to the boarders on numerous occasions."
Ms Kimber replied to this e-mail about one hour later, saying: "I am unaware of what has happened and my son has not mentioned anything to me yet."
At the hearing on Friday the 13th, the Grade 12s all admitted guilt. They were sentenced to a number of sanctions, including the removal of privileges, detentions, maintenance work and a final written warning. They were also instructed to undergo counselling.
On Monday February 16, Ms Kimber came to see me and told me she had seen the bruises on her son's buttocks and had heard from him what actually happened that night. I immediately realised that this was more serious than I originally thought, so we promised to reopen the investigation and to reconvene the disciplinary hearing, if necessary. Ms Kimber said she believed the original sanctions imposed were too light.
I asked her to make a written statement and to provide any evidence that would aid the process. She agreed to do so. Instead, she then went straight to the press, claiming I was unwilling to take action. The first article appeared in The Star the next day (Tuesday February 17).
I was approached for comment by The Star's reporter on Monday February 16, and told her that the incident was unacceptable and not in any way condoned. I told her a process was in place to deal with it. This was not reflected in the article the next day.
On Wednesday February 18, Ms Kimber submitted an affidavit containing the information I requested.
On Thursday February 19, a delegation from the Gauteng Education Department arrived at the school. They stayed for three days, investigating the incident. Among other things, they told me I may not talk to the media. That gagging order has still not been rescinded, neither have the results of the investigation been given to the school.
On Friday February 20, the disciplinary hearing was reconvened in light of the new evidence from Ms Kimber. She had named only certain Grade 12 boys, and three teachers, in her affidavit and only those people were asked to appear.
The hearing decided to review the original sanctions: the headboy of the hostel was demoted, all the Grade 12 boys were suspended from the hostel, and one of the teachers was suspended and ordered to undergo counselling.
It should be remembered that in the case of all the subsequent newspaper articles, I had been forbidden to speak to the press. I believe that there was a quick jump made from the position of "I cannot comment" to "I condone what is happening" and, under the circumstances, that was very unfair.
Then, two weeks ago, two SAPS members from the Hillbrow police station arrived at the school, along with Ms Kimber and her son, and a number of reporters and photographers. I was told they had been brought along to identify the alleged perpetrators.
The only names the police had were those contained in Ms Kimber's affidavit to me, which alone tells you that this was not an arrest, as was reported.
I insisted the parents be brought in and that they consent that their sons be taken in for questioning. This was agreed to and the boys were taken to the police station in their parents' cars, not in a police van as was reported.
The report that one of the boys has a prior conviction for armed robbery is another example of how information received (from Ms Kimber, I presume) was taken as fact, without checking it out. There is no such thing. The closest to it is the fact that one of the boys was in fact the victim of an armed robbery some time ago.
In the meantime, the school has spent a lot of time and effort in ensuring that such an occurrence is not repeated.
The Grade 12 boys have been attending the Boys to Men programme, which consists of an adventure weekend, facilitated by an experienced psychologist, followed by twice- monthly evening sessions, which are still continuing.
The feedback from the boys has been very positive. They were taught that initiation, as a rite of passage, is a good thing - if properly handled.
Based on that programme, and other inputs, an initiation policy for the school has been drawn up. It stresses that induction and orientation is necessary, but the outcome must be positive and any type of physical or mental abuse is strictly prohibited.
The school has in the past 18 months also been involved in drawing up a blueprint - a values-based plan for the school - which has been adapted to stress that acceptance of newcomers into a school is an annual event and one that has to be handled positively.
The boarding house, at its five-weekly grade meetings (when the boys in each grade meet with staff and parents), now has the issue of initiation as a permanent item on its agenda.
Parktown Boys' High is an educational institution that has maintained high standards in just about all areas of education. We have thousands of Old Boys who have nothing but respect and affection for the school. Many of them have gone on to achieve great things in life.
It is sad that all those years of tradition and excellence should be disregarded and that the school's name be trashed on the basis of this incident.
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