Dulwich College a “breeding ground for sexual predators”

[rosemary201]

Another day, another school
Interestingly, the first letter from a boy

Dulwich College is today accused of being a “breeding ground for sexual predators” in an open letter organised by a former schoolboy that contains more than 100 anonymous accounts of assault, harassment and sharing intimate photos online.

The letter, written by Samuel Schulenburg, 19, a former pupil at the south London private school, said “experiences of assault, revenge pornography and slut shaming were exacerbated by ... young men who ... laughed at stories of sexual violence”.

His letter includes about 100 anonymous testimonies written by girls who went to neighbouring schools, such as James Allen’s Girls’ School (Jags). One claims there was “an established rape culture” at the school.

Even if the conjecture were true, it does not apply to the present day, and regulatory board investigations have concluded otherwise. Stating it as fact is misleading.

It keeps going round and round though

Could you give examples of recent incidents?

If you’d like to know more about their reputation and how they dealt with incidents, I would read up on the reports commissioned in 2021/2

‘This month will also see an Independent Review of Behaviour, Culture and Safeguarding published. Commissioned by the school’s governors, the report has been conducted by the INEQE Safeguarding Group and led by Jim Gamble, a former Chief Police Officer and the founding chief executive of the Child Exploitation and On-line Protection Centre.’

Alternatively book an appointment at the college and see first hand the school in action. Slightly more productive than posting on a public forum with conjecture.

Do you know any mothers with sons there? Are they not local and liberal either?

Im always concerned by anyone calling a school ‘a bit rapey’ without any evidence or experience of the school and posting it on a public forum, especially as it’s not your own words, yet you are prepared to perpetuate the statement. That to me seems immensely wrong, especially when referring to minors who the ‘local liberal mums’ don’t seem to be giving any right to reply to. Indeed putting this here raises some safeguarding issues for the pupils of DC if this is what local adults are saying about them without doing their due diligence.

I think parents who wouldn’t consider DC because of this, need to look carefully at all schools. Everyone’s invited gives a comprehensive view of the scale of the problem.

@MyLoftyShakeryes fair enough and the last thing I would want to do is cause upset. I did not realise this thread was mostly years old and was just trying to illustrate as a local that opinions and reputations take years/decades to turn around. As the PP has demonstrated a great many parents are not local, given that there is apparently a feeder school in Highgate.

As someone who posted earlier and with friends with boys at this and other local (state and private) schools - this is still a common perception of DC. I don’t like the typical “end product” of the school and the values it instils. Obviously others feel differently / aren’t aware (there’s a lot of international traffic at DC and prestige would trump all I imagine) but it’s still a widespread if not universal perception.

I would heartily disagree with it being a universal perception, the fact that the school still runs is proof that it isn’t. Could I ask you to meet a pupil from there to challenge your perception? I don’t think it’s fair to castigate an alleged ‘universal perception’ on a minor you have never met. That seems highly unfair.

Again, that’s a misinformed opinion. It may have pupils from north London and internationally, but many are SE and SW London. Local states schools are known to take pupils from all over London and the local argument is not a valid point.

I used the phrasing “widespread if not universal perception” quite deliberately - not universal but not unknown or unusual either.

Could I ask you to meet a pupil from there to challenge your perception? I don’t think it’s fair to castigate an alleged ‘universal perception’ on a minor you have never met.

As I wrote, I know boys at this school and other schools nearby - sons of friends mainly, but I also work with teenagers through a voluntary program I lead, so I see a fair number. And I don’t like what I see coming out of DC.

I think it’s wrong to put out statements that you ‘don’t like what you see coming out of DC’. Schools of all kinds have all sorts of children, it’s the blanket approach which is unhelpful to the minors you are writing off without any interaction with them. My DC got mugged, the assailant was tracked to a certain school, are all the kids there muggers? No.

I think people really just use DC as a projection of not liking a certain type of school. That’s fine, but careful what you are often wrongly terming minors as.

I would challenge how much you WANT to change your own opinion versus what it ultimately a way just to voice an opinion over educational choices. I would rather ire was projected to parents over their decisions, not accusing minors of being ‘a bit rapey’, even if they are not your words, you chose to repeat them without any evidence of that being true on a public forum . I appreciate you removed the post. Decent respectful conversations need to be two way.

Except I do have interactions with them, which have formed my opinion over the course of years. And I think it’s not controversial to say that schools can have and inculcate a particular culture, for good or ill.

I’d love things to be different - god knows we don’t need more unpleasant, entitled young men about - but I can only reflect on my own experience.

I’ll leave it there.

And what have you done about your experiences off these ‘unpleasant, entitled young men’ you speak of? Reported it to the school or their parents? Or just articulated it on here?

I think you should visit DC and see if they ‘inculcate a particular’ culture, before you sweep the statement publicly.

I’m happy to leave it there, as I think more of the problem with DC and its pupils lies with you rather than them. That is my observation from this thread.

Of course everyone has unconscious bias and this can inform a lot of opinions. It’s also
completely valid to form opinions on interactions you have and credible accounts you read. It’s not just adults but also other teens forming these opinions.

I don’t doubt that an effort has been made by the school to address things. I don’t doubt many lovely kids go there. But several things can be true at the same time. They are a multi million turnover business. A lot of the effort and resources will have gone into damage limitation and PR.

Indeed, several things can be true at the same time, unfortunately the statements you bought to the table weren’t evidenced-based, and, could be seen in some eyes, as defamatory. Calling a group of minor ‘a bit rapey’ cause some local mum at your school had said that isn’t really unconscious bias, it’s outright offensive. Again, appreciate you saw this, and got the post removed.

Again, the documentation surrounding yoyr concerns are all open to public viewing. I can’t comment on what resource or money they used, but I don’t blame any school for trying to protect innocent minors from the baying locals, which is what this ultimately boils down to.

As for teens, they will mirror adult behaviour, so if they hear adults using criminal statements about their peers, they are likely to think it ok to use them to, without the back up evidence.

I absolutely respect your POV and can sympathise with you and other parents at the school in the wake of all this. I think i’ll leave it there too. I do regret quoting what someone said to me recently and did have it removed by MNHQ so it’s not ideal that you keep re-typing it.

Thank you. And you can understand given what you said, I re typed. We cannot accept that in any civilised discussion.

Its worth remembering the context that brought this to light: EVERYONES INVITED

I know it would be a lot easier for everyone if we could just point our fingers at the 'rich brats' and say they're the rapists but the whole point of the initial whistleblowing was that this is widespread and happening at all the schools. They received testimonials from over 3000 schools. We do the survivors a real disservice when we try to pin it on just elite boys schools.