This is a horrible reality of how deaf children are often taken advantage of. Please read and watch the information that I have included. I would like you to do some research on this problem in the Deaf Community and post your findings and comments here. What can be done?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/us/27wisconsin.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_6lMoiD5B8
Some people are sick.
ReplyDelete"Although the great majority of carers have the child's best interests at heart, some will use their vulnerability as an opportunity to abuse."
SERIOUSLY?! What is wrong with people? What kind of person looks at a child, let alone a disabled child, and thinks to themselves.."Hmm, I sure would like to be sexual with that kid." I can not believe it.
"Deaf children
"Deaf children may not have sufficient communication skills or the vocabulary to describe what is happening to them. They can be particularly vulnerable because:
"•sometimes their method of communicating involves more direct touching
"•they may be away from home, for instance in a residential school
"•deaf children are further exposed to a larger amount of touching contact."
On the video clip, props to those men. Even though that priest didn't get what he deserved, those men tried as hard as they could to get somebody to take action. It takes a lot of guts to report abuse in the first place. But those men are deaf, and they had to relay their story over and over again to different officials. Now, I'm not Catholic, but I have a ton of friends who are; so this isn't meant to be offensive...how come it seems that it's so easy for the leaders in the Catholic religion to turn a blind eye to child abuse? I mean, it happens in other instances too, but as a religious figure, your'e supposed to uphold the Word and Will of God. That does not include touching and molesting young boys.
After reading the article and watching the video clip I was sick to my stomach. Anyone who thinks that way about a child needs some serious help but on top of it all, a deaf child. I can only imagine that the priest was thinking "hey these kids can't hear so I definitely won't get in any trouble". *Gag. And not to mention he died before anyone believed the stories about what he did.
ReplyDeleteBut on the other hand, I think it is wonderful that those men are coming out about their experiences and this time are finally getting heard. They deserve that much. It was also a very different context to see sign language in. It wasn't a funny story or song interpretations but rather two men speaking about horrible things they had done to them when they were children and it was more "real" than anything else I've seen signed in class. Very eye opening and very sad.
jeeze i haven't had a chance to watch the clip yet, but after reading your comments, i don't think i want to :(
ReplyDeleteThis is just wrong. I can't believe a priest thought it would be ok to take advantage of a child during confessions. Also I hope all the people that these men talked to about the molesting when it happened feel sick to there stomachs for not doing anything to stop it. I hope that now that they see what they missed and caught the problem they learn from it so they can stop it next time. This time it was to late to do anything about it because the father had died before they realized it. But I am very proud of these men for coming out and addressing the problem that happened to them so many years ago. It has probably been eating at the since it has happened. All in all I hope this is never a problem again and that these men are brave for going on air and talking about it. I hope it prevents things in the future and gives courage for those who haven't said anything about being molested to come forward. Very eye opening and sad.
ReplyDeleteWOW. This is horrible, it's things like this that almost makes me ashamed to be Catholic, not only do our priests rape little hearing boys but deaf ones as well that have a hard time telling anyone that happened. Personally I think this guy is lower than dirt, he picked on the one group that had the least capability of sharing their horrific experience. OI also found it way to convenient for him to go to a, I think it was a juvenile place, to “talk” to the troubled boys. To me, I think he knew that no one would believe these kids because of their past. I’m really glad that these men spoke up in the video and shared their stories; it took a lot of courage to do so. With these men’s stories now in the media, I feel that similar cases will now be treated with care. Hopefully these perverts will take this as a warning as to what they are doing is wrong and that they should stop.
ReplyDeleteTo Morgan,
ReplyDeleteYou know, I wonder the same thing about the leaders of the church. I was raised Catholic so I think I might have an answer as to why it is so easy for the leaders in the Catholic religion to turn a blind eye to child abuse, or why it is easy for them to get away with it. I can tell you from my experience that my teachers, priest, family within the church were all very trusted people and being very young we would belive what was said to us. A priest almost as the upper hand and can do or say anything to the kids and they will believe and do whatever they say. So just like in the video when the man said the priest said "God wanted me to teach you about sex, but you can't tell anyone what happens" is on very good example of the power these leaders have over their young followers. I hope that made sense, I feel like I just talked in a circle.
So what can be done:
ReplyDelete1) Special classes to show deaf people how to communicate abuse situations
2) Classes for law enforcement and how they can communicate with deaf indiiduals
I like what morgan posted about deaf children and how they communicate, I found similar info. I don't like the way it is worded though because it makes it sound like it is the deaf peoples fault for being abused because they "need" to be physical in order to get their message across.
I remember reading about this when the news first broke and it was a stunning story for everyone to read.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the story needs to surround the fact that these children were abused by an institution of higher power and influence in the lives of many. The fact of the matter is that this is an ongoing scandal in the world of Catholicism, and Pope Benedict has come under fire for not doing enough to condemn and prevent it. Even without this tragic case, there are thousands of cases reported around the world of priest abuse in the past decade.
I know this hits home for many reasons - proximity and because we are learning about deaf culture, but this is a global issue that is affecting children in all walks of life, and we need to see it in the biggest picture possible.
Also, that priest is sick. Not cool.
OMG this is sooo sad.
ReplyDeleteThe saddest part to me is the fact the the young boys told people and they did not take them seriously. These acts of discrimination happen all the time especially when you are trying to prosecute someone in power. I just wonder what made it come out again all the sudden after decades. I guess because these men needed closure.This lets you know you cant trust anyone.
-jazmine scott
wow! this is a sad story. number 1, i can't believe that none of these people who the boys told did anything about it. Number 2, I can't believe that they thought sending father murphy to a different school would solve the problem. By doing that, father murphy was able to keep molesting children just in a different area. This is just sad. Number 3, I can't believe Father Murphy used the excuse that "God wanted him to teach the boys about sex"... What is that?!
ReplyDeleteHIlary, I like what you said about it being "real". That's soooo true! We've never really been exposed to sign language in such a serious context. It was cool, and kind of disturbing. Like Monica says, this is not a "pretty language" by any means. It's very graphic. This has been a really good example of that.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, thanks for that. That does make sense. Like I said, I am not Catholic, so I don't fully understand how things work. But I do know that I think it's sick. I also really liked that you added some things that you think can be done. That was smart.
Josie, I thought the same thing. "Oh, let's just send him to another school where he can have access to MORE young boys and do MORE damage." Yeah, that's smart. I don't understand how that was supposed to help.
There are no nice words to say about any of that. A person could ramble on and on to get the priest, even a hearing person could, but since he is a priest it makes the “situation” seem unreal. And now when deaf guys are trying to get the word out… yeah, doesn’t make the “situation” any better since many people just won’t believe it considering “oh he’s a priest, he follows the word of God and these deaf guys don’t know anything, they’re just deaf and dumb.” After reading about this, things like that are very upsetting and piss you off because it’s just not right. It’s just stupid that people can get away with that. But I like how those guys stood up for themselves! They wouldn’t let that slide through without trying, unlike some of the others before. They were brave, had courage to stand up like that. Watching the video was very dramatic, it was good, the signing of the guys explaining their story was strong and visual, and definitely something unlike what we do in class considering the seriousness.
ReplyDelete-Jeff
also sorry I couldn't post this at work, it wouldn't let me and then when I got home I completely spced it :/
It is truly heartbreaking to read this article and watch this video. It is hard enough for children to go through sexual abuse but i can't imagine how awful it would be to work up enough courage to tell someone, numerous times in some cases, and still not see any results. It is very disappointing. It was interesting to see that when a hearing victim reported his abuse, he was able to at least talk to a superintendent right away, where as the two deaf victims were not taken seriously at all. It makes you wonder if it has to do with them being deaf, or the fact that they reported it to other priests. It's stories such as these that make it really difficult to keep having faith in people! But i agree with a lot of you in the sense that it was very different to see such serious content being signed. The emotion behind everything can be difficult to handle.
ReplyDeleteFor him to get away with it essentially completely is what gets me the most. He clearly knew he could and would get away with it because of the position he was in and because of the kids he was targeting. 200 - it's just astounding. He is clearly at the top of the list for offenders in this scandal but like I said before, this is a global issue and we have to see it as a problem that will not be fixed without legitimate reform in the Catholic Church. That kind of reform, however, is not likely to occur because of the Catholic stance on things like Pope infallibility and traditional views on society.
ReplyDeletehlatoure
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that it must have been very discouraging to keep reporting the abuse and see no results. If something like that happened to me and I reported it once and nothing was done to eliminate the situation, I think I would give up. I would feel so betrayed and would believe no one would want to help me. Just gives me that much more respect for these men ultimately.
Morgan
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely right, ASL is not a pretty language in this context. I think people forget that ASL is used for more purposes than just interpreting music, so to see those men's experiences in sign is more telling than to have just heard them explain what happened.
Jared, I agree with you 100%. THe fact that he died not having to own up to what he did really troubles me. And yes, I can't believe that one man did those things to 200 children. That is rediculous. They should have done something about it when they first were told of his doings. It probably would have prevented it from happening to so many others.
ReplyDeleteAfter what you guys have mentioned… The line that Father Murphy used not only destroys the image of himself left behind, but also the catholic religion like some of you have mentioned. How could he do that and not expect someone to find out sometime? His actions just damper the religion significantly and almost makes people not want to be catholic anymore. Some Father he was. And like what you guys said about moving him to a different school, yeah HORRIBLE idea. He should have been terminated right away and sent to prison. UPSETTING! Makes you wonder what else happens in the world with people that have high power positions…
ReplyDeleteJosie, I totally agree with you on sending him to a different school. If he is a problem in one school don't you think he is still going to be a problem just in a different school. I think they did that because they didn't want to deal with him or they didn't know how to handle the situation. so they thought getting rid of him was what was right. but really they just made it someone else problem.
ReplyDeleteThis is very sad like everyone is saying but i agree with jared the fact that he got away with this for long is very sad. if someone would have taken the deaf childrens' claims seriously less children would have been hurt.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Jared, 200 is an obscene number. Stuff like this really leaves and upsetting feeling in your stomach. It is really terrible to hear about this happening so much in a Catholic church, especially considering our school happens to be Catholic Benedictine- it just goes to show that things like these affect the catholic religion which in turn effects more people than one would assume. The hardest part about this for me, isn't just the fact that Priests have been held accountable for acts like these, but for the fact that people in power get away with stuff like this. Things like this happen all the time in our world and as kids, they should be able to look up to their elders and people in power, but in this case, the people in power were their biggest fear since they wouldn't believe them or help them. If we can't look up to and confide in people in power we are forced to live in fear.
ReplyDelete