[3101] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: Remind me again why I didn't go Course VI...
dryfoo@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (dryfoo@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Thu Jun 11 10:56:40 1992
That is one seriously upsetting story.
Have you seriously thought about whether you *want* to go back to work
there? You should.
I mean, suppose the kid had called, say, Mike "Slimey" Barnickel
at the Glob and spilled his whole abuse story before reporting it to the
principal -- you'd be on the front page today as "accused CHILD MOLESTER"
and if you think you'll ever see a frontpage retraction, then you're still
too much of an optimist.
Or suppose Fred had waited one more day to recant, and the report had gone
out to the DSS?
And now that you've been accused once, suppose one of the other kids pulls
the same stunt? Or you have to discipline two or three of them and they
collaborate on an abuse accusation? After all, now you HAVE A HISTORY of
being accused OF CHILD ABUSE.
I'm not the first person to observe that these days, accusing someone of
child abuse is like being called a witch in colonial Salem.
I wish I could be more sympathetic now, but I think you're still between an
approaching Rock and a large Hard Place, and that you should be thinking
hard about protecting YOURSELF. And, perhaps, about your possible future
working relationship with that supportive school principal.
