Although nothing terrible happened to me or, to my knowledge, any of my friends, as someone who grew up in the 70s/80s I must confess to not feeling entirely surprised at what these guys went through, and it's made me seriously think about how people acted at the time.
We all made jokes about PE teachers, watch yourselves in the showers, backs to the wall, etc. Typical stuff that people joked about at the time. (We wouldn't make those comments these days of course.)
But could we have said or done something? Should we have?
All these things actually happened in my school :
the football coach forced boys to shower after the game - should we have said something?
he would "supervise" the boys in the shower - should we have said something?
he would ensure the boys showered naked, any shy boy showering in shorts was ordered to remove them - should we have said something?
he would change in the same room as the boys, at the same time - should we have said something?
the same teacher took the male lead in the school production of Sound of Music, a role which meant he kissed the female lead (15 years old) on stage - should we have said something?
A few years after I left, this teacher was convicted of a (consensual) sexual relationship with a pupil. Would things have turned out differently if someone had spoken up?
This was just one example in one school, imagine the same scenario being played out in schools up and down the country.
I can't begin to imagine how people who suffered terrible abuse as children must be feeling, or even those who were around at the time, who witnessed what seemed like minor incidents at the time but with hindsight seemed to point towards a darker truth.
We all made jokes about PE teachers, watch yourselves in the showers, backs to the wall, etc. Typical stuff that people joked about at the time. (We wouldn't make those comments these days of course.)
But could we have said or done something? Should we have?
All these things actually happened in my school :
the football coach forced boys to shower after the game - should we have said something?
he would "supervise" the boys in the shower - should we have said something?
he would ensure the boys showered naked, any shy boy showering in shorts was ordered to remove them - should we have said something?
he would change in the same room as the boys, at the same time - should we have said something?
the same teacher took the male lead in the school production of Sound of Music, a role which meant he kissed the female lead (15 years old) on stage - should we have said something?
A few years after I left, this teacher was convicted of a (consensual) sexual relationship with a pupil. Would things have turned out differently if someone had spoken up?
This was just one example in one school, imagine the same scenario being played out in schools up and down the country.
I can't begin to imagine how people who suffered terrible abuse as children must be feeling, or even those who were around at the time, who witnessed what seemed like minor incidents at the time but with hindsight seemed to point towards a darker truth.




