Incident at day centre yesterday caused residential school flashbacks

[fishman65]

Thanks for your lovely words, GGW.

Like I said, yesterday's incident wasn't really that big a deal in the grand scheme of things, and I believe that the staff handled the situation appropriately, which is fortunate, as perhaps those who attend other centres elsewhere might not be quite so lucky, including my previous day centre some 20 years ago where sometimes more punitive measures such as full-on physical restraints and/or staff threatening police intervention were employed willy-nilly and in the name of 'zero tolerance' against violence and aggression, even when there were no such behaviours displayed by the clients concerned.

Just shows that even zero tolerance against abuse can ironically be open to abuse in itself by staff members responsible, and as justification for their egotistical 'power trips'!

But like I implied above, it was more the reminder of a lot of the chaotic incidents at that residential school back in the 80s, where sometimes even I had a few scraps with staff members myself, but sadly almost always ended up losing, and me subsequently being treated like a criminal in jail, as if I had seriously broken the law!

Lenco, you're a really good guy and I love reading your posts, especially your Covid analysis addressing the latest stats. I'm really sorry you had to go through those incidents years ago, no wonder it has left you with some psychological scars. While its not in the same league, I remember vividly being caned, slippered and humiliated by teachers on a power trip. There was so much abuse of authority back then but we thought it was normal. And you're not worthless, not in a million years

[Lencoboy]

Lenco, you're a really good guy and I love reading your posts, especially your Covid analysis addressing the latest stats. I'm really sorry you had to go through those incidents years ago, no wonder it has left you with some psychological scars. While its not in the same league, I remember vividly being caned, slippered and humiliated by teachers on a power trip. There was so much abuse of authority back then but we thought it was normal. And you're not worthless, not in a million years

Thanks for your comments focusing on my personal strengths. It's really touching my heart!

I do reckon a sizeable proportion of the older generation must feel some sense of resentment because many of them felt forced to suffer in silence over many of the unjust treatments they were on the receiving end of as kids, hence the use a lot of their clichéd expressions like 'kids today have no respect', 'beatings never did us any harm', etc.

Well such inhumane treatment did do me harm, and I had more than just wallops at that residential school back then. I was dunked under the water at the swimming baths by Mr N as a punishment for grassing him up to my parents over his rough treatments of kids both in the pool and in the shower afterwards, and he said 'I'll show you what it's really like to be ducked under the water'!

None of the other staff present (including my own (female) residential social worker) even seemed to bat an eyelid over that bloke's misdemeanour, and even my own RSW seemed to imply that I asked for it for telling tales about school staff that weren't true.

But it WAS true though.

Hardly surprising said school had a blanket ban on all pupils bringing in their own portable cassette recorders, even if they were playback-only Walkman-type devices.