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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-30/inside-sydney-opus-dei-affiliated-private-schools/101777060>
"At the end of each academic year, a graduating group of schoolgirls gathers in
identical white gowns.
The dresses are supposed to symbolise purity. It’s a tradition that has carried
on for decades at Tangara School for Girls in Sydney’s suburban Hills district.
But Isabella Kershaw remembers a disturbing side to the purity culture at her
school.
She is haunted by a particular exercise involving a piece of sticky tape being
passed from girl to girl around the classroom.
“By the time it got to the last person, it was handed back to the teacher, and
by that point the sticky tape was a bit grotty and not sticky anymore,” she
says.
“The teacher said to us, ‘That’s what happens to you when you have sex before
marriage, when you have multiple partners. You’re not useful anymore, you’re
not valuable anymore, you’re not worthwhile anymore because you’re dirty and
unusable’.”
Isabella, who graduated from school in 2020 but left Tangara earlier because of
her experiences there, purses her lips and looks at the ceiling.
Four Corners has heard similar stories from dozens of former students of
Tangara and its brother school, Redfield College, which are both affiliated
with the small-but-powerful Catholic organisation known as Opus Dei.
In interviews with more than 30 alumni and some parents, more disturbing
practices have been alleged.
Students say they were told that watching pornography caused holes in the
brain, girls were discouraged from getting a life-saving cancer vaccine, pages
on the curriculum were ripped out or redacted from text books, homophobia was
rife and there were persistent attempts to recruit school students to Opus Dei.
Many former students say their schooling left them with psychological damage."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
