A Catholic-School Veteran Tells All

I went to catholic school for three years, ages 11-13 during the 70's. It was the worst experience of my life. The constant yelling and berating. Once a student vomited in the restroom. Well, come snack time a nun felt I should go clean up the vomit since I had not brought in a snack that day. My self esteem was already battered coming from a dysfunctional family, This refuge that was to teach me about God was a hell hole. I found more drug use in that environment than I did in public school. Go to hell St Thomas Aquinas School in Brooklyn NY. You and all your demonic nuns and priests. Go to Hell.

I went to catholic school for three years, ages 11-13 during the 70's. It was the worst experience of my life. The constant yelling and berating. Once a student vomited in the restroom. Well, come snack time a nun felt I should go clean up the vomit since I had not brought in a snack that day. My self esteem was already battered coming from a dysfunctional family, This refuge that was to teach me about God was a hell hole. I found more drug use in that environment than I did in public school. Go to hell St Thomas Aquinas School in Brooklyn NY. You and all your demonic nuns and priests. Go to Hell.

For me, the shock of an adult with such feelings about corporal punishment years later is puzzling and unsettling. Because I believe these feelings are yours, I think any semi-good Psychologist can help you work through these issues. There is a danger you will blame "others" for what you preceive as bad or negative in your life. Even worse and even less effective, you may come to view yourself as a victim, and victims are powerless. Clearly you are not only not powerless, you are a voice for one of the most important and powerful magazines in the world.

As a non-Catholic who attended a Catholilc HS for a couple of years, has many Catholic friends who attended Catholic schools and who is married to a Catholic, I am concerned that you appear to be piling on. After all, ANY time an offense is alleged or real that leads the storyline for the press. It is no stretch to describe you as more widely read than me. I am certain you have seen articles on the same page of several big city papers that blast a Priest, Bishop or the Catholic Church for a misdeed and an equally or more serious offense is alleged/committed by another faith and that article is much smaller and written in a more non-emotionally charged manner.

While I am not suggesting your report is inaccurate in terms of events that occurred, I am suggesting you risk being viewed like the reformed smoker who hates anyone who smokes.
As a practical matter, I hope you think of forgiveness as an option for you. Forgiveness is both a sound religious and psychological construct. It is my limited understanding that in order for forgiveness to really "take" it is necessary for us to let go of our bitterness, hurt and embarrassment and allow the person(s) to take responsibility for their behavior. It is my opinion, when we forgive the teachers, Nuns, Priests, parents, siblings, and whomever else for their words and behaviors we release the hold the bitterness and resentment hold on us. This allows us to see the "others" and ourselves more clearly. I think it is an important step in personal growth in maturity and wisdom.

If the era we lived through Catholic Schools was today, these people would be in jail--and rightfully so, for child abuse. The memory of having our heads banged against the blackboard if we didn't get a math problem right, watching the boys in our class being beaten on the hands with an iron dustbroom to this day brings tears to my eyes. Is it no wonder that so many of us who lived through this turned away from the Catholic Church? Many of us also received a substandard education and would have been better in public schools. They also allowed nuns in the novitiate to teach, who did not have their teaching certificates and someone should look back and do a study of how few Catholic School students were able to pass Regents exams because they were ill prepared..

Posted By: yogadog @ 04/27/2009 10:57:07 AMPlease, PLEASE, keep in mind that these 40 and 50 year old stories are being told from the mind of a child. Like 4 inch snow storms that now are told as 6 foot blizzards. Yes, I was raised in the Catholic school system back then. I've repeated many a tale of the "Guantanamo ' type tortures that we endured. But you know what??? When I now dig deep, deep, DEEP into my memories I have to ask myself, "Am I embellishing these stories somewhat"? Yeah,,,,,,, I do believe I am. Sorry.

Wow yogadog ... that truly is one of the best and most HONEST observations I've read this morning. I think you're absolutely right! And by far - you're adult enough and stable enough to apologize.. True class. Thank you.

give me a break. How much gang violence and school shootings did we have back then? If I got in trouble at school then I was in twice as much when I got home. My parents taught me to respect my elders and fully supported my teachers right or wrong. We didn't get bruised. We got the spanking we deserved and only after repeated offenses. It only had to happen once and you pretty well learned to toe the line. No, you don't have to spank a child to get them to understand discipline either. If parents today would support the discipline dealt out by the schools rather than threaten to sue the entire corporation when their child is held in from recess then we just might have more respectful adults when they grow up.

Two things I remember about this: Sister Mary Redempta, who became red faced like an apple before she went off on the impudent, and the revenge the kids took on the older, less resilient nuns. I don't think the sisters realized the psychological torture inflicted on the more vulnerable nuns was made acceptable to even the best behaved kids because of the injustice they and the rest of the church perpetrated. But really, what would you expect from an institution stuck in the 17th century?

Having also been raised in catholic schools K-12, with mostly BVM's by the way-the guardians of discipline, I must say I pretty much deserved any punishment I received since I was one of "those" students who challenged authority all the time. However, along with the occasional reprimand (mostly a slap by a ruler on the knuckles) I recieved a great education from nuns who dedicated their lives to education. I am always interested in those retrospective comments that portray the nuns as evil. While I am sure some of the stories are true, many are "extended" over time. Without the firm discipline I recieved, along with encouragement, I would never have made it in life. And I did well, thanks to a firm and solid catholic education.

Mr Noonan seems to resent being punished for disrupting the class in some capacity. Yes I have seen the nuns take a student by the scruff of the neck and punish them for bad behavior or foul mouth or whatever. BUT those kids deserved to be disciplined and a smack wether on the hand the buttovcks or even on the face ( which I disagree with) doesn't hurt any kid. Truthfully our kids need a crack on the A## once in a while, it doesn't hurt them. We have fostered spoiled brats sunce the 60's we give them everything they want and they expect more and more. I had a car when I was 16 but I paid for it myself with a job. WE all went to school took part time jobs went to dances etc.Did everything a kid does and that was with 13years of a Catholicv School but I leared disciplin RESPECT for others and love for our fellow man. I said yes please no please thank you looked up to my nuns and parents as great role models, I had children in the late 60's and 7
early 70's and yes they also got a smack by me to being disrespectful. they were not lazy they to got jobs ads teenagers and worked for what they got.
they are know VP of a Insurance Company a manager to Fed Ex and they are doing fine..WE all need structure in our wee years and the nuns provicded that and I thankj God they did .

I went just this sort of Catholic school, and frankly, I think all the people who whine about it are simply wimps who have made it an excuse for their current shortcomings and insecurities. There are always certain social pressures in school. Thankfully mine were a little worry now and again that I crossed the line and broke some rules instead of being exposed to bullies, drugs, promiscuity, and god knows what else would have occurred at school but for a little healthly respect that the downside of introducing such things wasn't worth it. You got problems? I know, blame it on getting smacked across the face a few times by a nun. Not getting enough simpathy? Exaggerate the "beatings" and join with other wimps to gain credibilty for your stories. Your a victim. I am sorry; poor you!

I was a Catholic in the 50s and heard many stories, but never truly realized the trama that the kids in the Catholic Schools went through until I was married. My wife is left handed. My wife and our friends have told me the hell she went through because she had the devil in here for being left handed. She was forced to attempt to write right handed and would be beat, forced to knell for hours, and thrown accross the room any time she got caught writing left handed. I watch a movie were the Nun snapped a ruler from her habit. My wife jumped and screamed. The next day at work, I mentioned the movie and three fellow workers immediately responded about the ruler. I'm glad my family couldn't afford to send me to Catholic School. I can barely remember high school, but my friends who went to Catholic School can remeber the abuse going back to first grade.

Please, PLEASE, keep in mind that these 40 and 50 year old stories are being told from the mind of a child. Like 4 inch snow storms that now are told as 6 foot blizzards. Yes, I was raised in the Catholic school system back then. I've repeated many a tale of the "Guantanamo ' type tortures that we endured. But you know what??? When I now dig deep, deep, DEEP into my memories I have to ask myself, "Am I embellishing these stories somewhat"? Yeah,,,,,,, I do believe I am. Sorry.

Having been a Catholic School kid in the 50's, I have to say that I learned and learned well. I was shocked when I went to college and found that some adults couldn't write a complete sentence or couldn't perform what I thought were simple arithmetic problems. That said, I was on the receiving end of a beating that I never discussed at home. I was in sixth grade and didn't make it to mass one morning during Lent. My teacher must have been embarrassed by the poor showing from her class but I was singled out for special treatment. I was whacked on the bottom at least 50 times with a dustbrush. At about 50 whacks, I couldn't count, using all my energy to prevent myself from crying. When I went home, I had one huge bruise from my hips down to almost my knees. I never told my family because I was afraid they'd put me in public school, another fear instilled by the nuns.

Sorry, but I'm not one of "you" . I experienced exactly what Mr. Noonan describes. I know this does not apply to all Catholic schools because I had friends who attended Catholic School less than a mile from where I went who experienced no physical violence whatsoever. But it was the norm at my school, too. The violence did seem to be directed at certain students, those who couldn't, wouldn't conform to the system, those who had a look of vulnerability about them , possibly because they came from dysfunctional famillies . This atmosphere brought out the worst in those nun hell bent on breaking wills, or who were just plain mean. Its very sad this had to happen because I know it haunted me for years.

How many ways can Newsweek attack Christians? I am sure Catholics would appreciate Newsweek's support in these areas.

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