AIBU that Giles Coren’s back to school tips column that includes “minor sexual abuse” is not funny?

[TulipRevolutionary]

I finally caught up on the weekend papers and Giles Coren wrote a pretty standard (fairly dull) back to school tips listicle column in the Times that was directed at his son who is starting a new secondary school. However, the idea that “minor sexual offenses” committed by teachers within schools are “just a fact of life” is totally wrong. The fact that the teacher who “taught me how to write” also “touched me in unwelcome ways” seems to insinuate that as long as they are a good teacher a bit of light pedophilia isn’t “necessarily anything to be afraid of”. It reminds me of the plot of The History Boys play in which pedophilia is also treated as fairly innocuous/a bit of a joke and something to be tolerated if the teacher is otherwise inspiring and will secure you a place at Oxford. My cousin was abused by a fencing tutor at his Catholic boarding school and although Giles Coren would probably consider it to be “minor” sexual abuse since no penetration ever occurred I think it completely ruined his teenage years and much of his 20s and arguably he is still negatively affected by it.

No, long of leg and narrow of mind fits the lanky one better. A different small syndrome perhaps.

A sub made a mistake. It's not ideal but it happens. The way you deal with that as a writer is to have a quiet word with the commissioning editor and/or the chief sub. What you don't do - certainly not if you're a D-list celeb who's only got the job because of who your dad is - is pull a massive fucking hissy fit and write a 1,000 word screed about how everyone is incompetent and destroying your comic genius.

Because that makes you look like a massive, massive twat.

Absolutely correct @HowardTJMoon, It's an absolute duty to point it out.

Physical height doesn't matter. Mark Dolan makes a big thing about being tall, it doesnt compensate for him being inadequate, pathetic and try hard.

Same as GC and Lozza.

If the cap fits…

There are reasons private schools and boarding schools have such an issue with abuse of children -
Hiring teachers without qualifications and sometimes without proper safeguarding checks - because they have the right connections, accent
Hiring teachers with private school and boarding school backgrounds where they themselves were abused
Sweeping accusations under the carpet or hiding abuse because they are more worried about the damage to business than anything else. Not dealing with it openly, fully properly.
The longer hours children are in those schools often in ‘wraparound’ care or boarding school there’s clearly much more opportunity for adults to take advantage of children… lonely, vulnerable children separated from their parents

I could go on, or I could just post a massive list of all the private schools that have had serious scandals regarding sexual abuse, other forms of abuse, drugs issues, issues both against their pupils and perpetrated by their pupils…
And then you could read all about the PR forms, law firms, and reputation management firms these lovely places of education have hired to it all up.
It’s amazing what money can do - other than buy grades that is.

Something I think he’s maybe trying to get across with the word “minor” is how prevalent it is. There was a thought provoking piece on Huw Edwards on Women’s hour that stated something like 800 men a month are investigated for similar offences and that the police think that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s far more prevalent than we would wish to imagine and we need to be thinking hard about what preventative measures can be taken to help these men.

He's a writer, it's his profession. If that's what he means he's more than capable of saying so. Meanwhile, these men 'in need of help', help themselves. Children should be sheltered and protected from these ghouls, not delivered wholesale into their hands with new arrivals once a year.

That's exactly how I read it too, he's saying be alert,it's happened to him and at his kids school,listen to them,if there's chat about a pervy teacher then there's a reason for it.