Alleged Abuse at Oprah’s School for Girls:

Less than a year after Oprah’s School for girls opened, there are charges of physical and sexual abuse. Ms. Winfrey has not hastened to rush to the school to deal with the issues personally. It turns out that one of the matrons who over sees the dorms has been the chief abuser.

As a parent who does not believe of handing children over to someone else to raise and educate, I still feel that the school was an excellent idea. Just because I homeschool my own, does not mean I cannot see a superior opportunity. I fathom if I were a parent in Africa with limited resources for my children that I might allow my own child to go to the school, especially if it is the worst of two evils.

The real problem, I believe does not come from the fact that Oprah created a private school with high standards and strict rules. I feel the problem comes from a system of abuse that already existed in African schools. If you read this( http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/safrica/ ) article on the Human Rights Watch website, you will find that sexual violence against girls in South African Schools is commonplace. Here is an excerpt from that report:

“South African girls too often encounter violence in their schools. South African girls continue to be raped, sexually abused, sexually harassed, and assaulted at school by male classmates and teachers. For many South African girls, violence and abuse are an inevitable part of the school environment. Although girls in South Africa have better access to school than many of their counterparts in other sub-Saharan African states, they are confronted with levels of sexual violence and sexual harassment in schools that impede their access to education on equal terms with male students.”

In a culture that was already hostile to girls, Oprah made the mistake of hiring a people who were used to looking the other way while girls were being abused. To quote a BBC news article found at africanwomenblogs.com, “The alleged victims have accused Dr Mzimane (the school’s head-master) of failing to act after students complained of abuse.” Oprah’s mistake was clearly trusting the women she left in charge of the girls. I seriously doubt she will let it happen again. The girls now have Oprah’s personal information and can contact her any time of the day or night.

This incident speaks more to the state of education for girls in Africa than it does the incidents at the school. In a culture where girls are preyed upon, it was inevitable that some jealous, vindictive people who felt the girls did not deserve the privileges they were afforded to sneak in through the cracks. While Oprah’s school certainly needs more checks and balances where no one adult should ever be alone with the kids, her school is not alone in mistreatment of girls.