The lost boys of Dilworth

[Lilith7]

Screened last night on One. Those poor little boys were abused in a place which was supposed to be helping them get an education - & their poor parents, who thought they were doing the best possible thing for their sons, which turned out to be the exact opposite.
At least 175 boys have been identified as having suffered abuse but the actual figure is believed to be much higher.


https://www.stuff.co.nz/culture/35023906...-dark-past

[Oh_hunnihunni]

My neighbours young grandson was in that, I couldn't watch it despite her pride and joy. I just find dramatised docos about awful tragedies and disasters hard to sit through. If he had been my child I think I'd've kept him out of that piece. I think evil has a contagion all of its own.

[Lilith7]

It was heartbreaking; poor little souls. But it was extremely carefully done & the acting was excellent. It worked well; I think the writer/director made the comment that you wouldn't have got the same impression from the survivors just telling of their experiences, but the young actors helped give a stronger impression of their youth & vulnerability.
I still blubbed a bit all the same, I hope it never happens again but we're humans & far from perfect.

[Zurdo]

I'm staying away from it for now, it's easy to find something else to watch (The Bay)...but may succumb later. My wife's youngest uncle went to Dilworth, they all seemed so proud of him, getting a real education in Auckland. Went to his 80th a couple of years ago.

[Olive]

It was heartbreaking; poor little souls. But it was extremely carefully done & the acting was excellent. It worked well; I think the writer/director made the comment that you wouldn't have got the same impression from the survivors just telling of their experiences, but the young actors helped give a  stronger impression of their youth & vulnerability.
I still blubbed a bit all the same, I hope it never happens again but we're humans & far from perfect.

It was so well put together.  I could hardly bear to watch some parts, but I think it's important to bear witness to these dreadful facts.   My mother's best friend's son was a boarder at Dilworth in the 60s; we knew nothing of the abuse there but he left at 15, ran away to Queensland and went totally off the rails until he died of drink and drugs.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Interesting coincidence, this little article showed up on my farcebook page, and the term she uses ' trauma tourists' perfectly encapsulates the sense of doubt I get about this trend in the media. I understand we need to be informed and educated, but at the same time the idea that someone is making these events into entertainment really repulses me.

It reminds me of the rubbernecking crowd that lined up at the fenceline to watch all those years ago while our house burned down...

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/15/christy...-tourists/

[Olive]

I agree. But I think there is also a dire need for the education of naive people who simply don't know (or refuse to believe) that these vile situations exist. As an example, yesterday our local parish pump newspaper published a sentimental historical posed photo of two male babies, nude, grinning invitingly at the camera. The sort of photo that would be worth money to a paedophile site on the dark web. The editor of the paper is notoriously dim but this was an astounding display of naiveté.

[Lilith7]

I think its a fine line. On one hand,we need to know about what happened in order to be aware enough to be able to guard against it happening again, but on the other we need to be extremely careful not to also in some way, exploit those people again.

Once again I'm inclined to believe that teaching empathy to kids throughout their school years might be a step in the right direction.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

And listening to their complaints against abusive teachers and authority figures. How often do we still put kids stories down to fantasies or the like...

Anyone who has taken on a fight against a vested interest knows how easily they can be ignored or undermined. So long as we continue to let that happen, we will have exploitation.

[nzoomed]

It is quite an eye opener on whats been going on all these years, just when you thought it was all over and more cases are coming forward across many institutions.
Hopefully the abuse in care royal commission can help put a stop to this altogether, but there is no room to be complacent.
Educating kids on the dangers from as early as possible is probably the best step to prevent this going forward. Not something that is easy to discuss with minors, but needs to be done in the most sensitive way possible.