Australian school at center of child-sex allegations pulls newsletter mentioning 'Penthouse' as recommended reading

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

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Original version of the controversial newsletter. Source: St Stanislaus College
Modified version of the controversial newsletter. Source: St Stanislaus College

The school at the center of child-sex allegations, St Stanislaus College in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia has removed a newsletter recommending Penthouse magazine as recommended reading for teenage boys. On the school's website, the newsletter has been replaced by a copy which omits these comments.

In the same newsletter, principal of the college John Edwards informs the school community that The Daily Telegraph had contacted him regarding sex abuse allegations.

The controversial comments were made by Ian MacDougall, a HSIE teacher. When asked what book he recommends every teenage boy read, he responded "Besides 'PeCENSOREDse' — any book that stirs the imagination/conscious."

A parent who does not wish to be named told Wikinews she took the comment to mean Penthouse magazine. She said the newsletter was given to her sons on Friday and when she read it she raised concerns with the school. The newsletter was changed on the school's website after concerns were raised. The parent said she was considering enrolling her sons at a public school following the incident.

"It makes you wonder how much truth there is to the allegations when you have a teacher recommending students read an adult magazine," the parent said.

The school's principal, John Edwards, told Wikinews that the newsletter was changed after Mr. MacDougall's answer was "widely interpreted to mean a girl magazine." Mr Edwards said he deemed the original comments "unacceptable."

When questioned by Wikinews on whether or not the article was recommending Penthouse, he said that the question was completed before the staff member went on long-service leave. The principal said the original version of the questions listed 'peCENSORED' and later had 'se' added to the end as "humour." He said after feedback from the comments, the version was replaced on the schools website.

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 This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.


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