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It’s funny how certain relevant facts often fall out of the news stories we read in the daily press. Take coverage of the sexual abuse of children, for example. If it has happened at a religious school, or is alleged to have happened, count on the denomination being mentioned, and mentioned prominently, in the opening paragraph. Indeed, as The Age demonstrated in 2012 with the headline reproduced above, the religion of the abusers, not the abuse itself, will often be presented as the most important element of the story.
Today brings another tale of alleged abuse, published also in The Age, which curiously downplays the beliefs of the academy at the centre of the latest demands by former pupils and staff for an investigation. Melbourne’s Preshil, according to the lead paragraph, is simply a “well-known private school”.
Way, way down at the tail end of the article, Preshil’s guiding principles are finally revealed:
The pioneering progressive school was founded in 1931 and grew to prominence against the counter-cultural backdrop of the 1960s and ’70s.
Just how extraordinarily progressive can be gleaned from an adulatory Radio National documentary on Preshil that went to air in 2006. The full audio is available via the link at the foot of this post.
Also worth absorbing are the opinions of Preshil graduate Peter Singer, the philosopher who defends sex with animals just so long as Fido or Clover derive some pleasure from the engagement. At the 4.30 mark of this YouTube interview, Preshil’s star graduate voices some similarly disquieting thoughts on the ethical and moral issues that cloud more conservative minds in regard to the business of adults having sex with children.
Should an inquiry into the Preshil allegations proceed, any submission by Singer will likely make for fascinating reading.
