J'accuse. My Abusers Outed !

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It's not easy setting out to write a piece that reveals one has been abused, physically and mentally.
But that's what I now do. And more, I will name the abusers and their complicit agencies.
All this it seems, is in keeping with the spirit of the age.

A good chunk of my reticence in posting this revelation has been the rather long gap, in human terms, between then and now. Then was half century ago and more. Again though, this seems to be in keeping with the spirit of the age, that is a big gap in time between the abuse and the report.

'Report' I observe tends to be the immediate precursor of 'claim'. As in a monetary claim against the abuser and their complicit agencies. For me, this is still a delicate issue, still unresolved, though I do not want in any fashion to close the door to a substantial claim as a victim.

The institutional abuse began was I was a tender 5 years old. Still I remember it clearly. It was a grade school environment. I was only in Grade 1ne. Our woman teacher named Moynihan called me aside, but within the view of my class mates so they might know what might await them should they ever be called aside. She brandished a significant and heavy leather strap, designed specifically for imparting a beating. She ordered me to hold out my hand. There followed a sharp deliberate blow.  I yanked back my hand on the sting, in complete shock. She order me to hold out my hand again. I hesitated and she then grabbed my hand, palm up, and delivered another blow. And then a third.

Tears flowed. With attendant crying. It seemed like a very long while before the pain subsided.

I came to understand that Moynihan was no rogue teacher with this teaching method. Her principal approved and indeed required this approach to discipline. Her principal was a nun. From the order Sisters of St. Joseph. They wore full length black habits, and head gear that left only the front of their face exposed, a veil extending at the back of their head past their shoulders. A white starched forehead band and a crisp white starched bib completed the outfit that never changed. In later years I would have further run ins with these sisters of corporal discipline.

It came to pass that I understood my parents both approved of 'the strap' as a reliable way to encourage compliance, and conformity. Interestingly my father had known Moynihan as she had taught him in Grade 1ne at the same school round the early 1930s. I also came to learn that in his early school days my father was no stranger to 'the strap'.

And now to backtrack some for completeness, because some might think that the conduct leading to the strapping might offer just cause. Well, .....


There will be some who would press to ask what consequences can we confidently say flowed from this approach to discipline. Others would be quick to say it is not a relevant question. Again for the sake of completeness I can offer a few summary elements.