Ex-Cadets Seek Sanctions Against St. John's Military School
Associated Press - Wed 03:25 PM 09/19/2012
The lawsuit contends the practice of giving higher ranking cadets the power to discipline others encourages physical and mental abuse. St. John's has vehemently denied a culture of abuse exists.
Former cadets at a Kansas military school are asking a federal judge to impose monetary sanctions and to order the school to release information they contend would establish a pattern of abuse.
The filing Tuesday came in the lawsuit by 11 students and their families against St. John's Military School in Salina. The lawsuit contends the practice of giving higher ranking cadets the power to discipline others encourages physical and mental abuse.
St. John's has vehemently denied a culture of abuse exists.
The plaintiffs contend the school has repeatedly refused to provide information on similar incidents, internal documents and financial information.
St. John's has argued some of the information sought is irrelevant or subject to confidentiality laws.
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Ksomething
Wednesday 19 September 2012 16:51 Report this comment
What a bunch of babies!!!! It's a military school not a boy scout jamboree.
troy
Wednesday 19 September 2012 20:16 Report this comment
So you're going to give a 17 year old kid the power to dicipline a 14 year old boy!? STTTTTUUUUUUUPPPPPIIIIIDDDDDD. I've seen 40 year old men unable to handle such power. Pretty simple...too many individuals will unfortunately flex the power immediately. They should rather have held it in reserve, closely guard the power and only show or use it when absolutely no other choice exists.
troy
Wednesday 19 September 2012 21:46 Report this comment
This really bugs me. There are a lot of responsibilities you can give these young cadets to further their training and growth as leaders. But allowing them to carry out diciplinary actions against their younger fellow troops should be something not taken very lightly. The military (unfortunately) is full of individuals with no clue regarding leadership, mentoring and basic people skills. This was not always the case. While individuals like this have always existed, their numbers were always small and they rarely reached the senior ranks for obvious reasons. To see this taking place at the cadet training level is troubling. They should be promoting teamwork, instilling a "can do" attitude, and leading by example. If the cadets see lazy leaders, witness backstabbing, are made to feel they are of little value or are subjected to micromanagement their fate will have been sealed before they even got started.
Iamgonnagetu
Wednesday 19 September 2012 22:07 Report this comment
Military is military and that's the way they do things. If you look at the records of the 11 cadets you are not going to find great kids. You will probably find disrespectful trouble makers needing discipline.
kmjohnson468
Thursday 20 September 2012 02:27 Report this comment
Beating lower ranking soldiers is not the way the military does things, and no matter how disrespectful or troubled a child might be that is exactly what they are, a child, and no one deserves that abuse especially when they live at the school. They should feel safe where they are and not be scared about how bad they will get beaten that day. Yes, some of the kids that attend SJMS are troubled kids who are sent for punishment, but most of them are good kids with well-to-do parents who pay a lot of money to send their children to this school. No parent wants to send their kid hundreds of miles away to a boarding school and then find out that they are being abused and no one is there to protect them. These kids might have needed discipline but for all you know the victims could have done something as small as talking during class, does that deserve broken bones? I believe that falls under the first amendment (no cruel and unusual punishment)
Viper
Thursday 20 September 2012 08:01 Report this comment
Iamgonnagetu, how would you feel if you went to a school and they tied you up, broke some of your bones and then branded you.
Iamgonnagetu
Thursday 20 September 2012 12:02 Report this comment
Evidently I had a smart mouth on me or I did something to get these people mad at me. You need to take cauction as none of those allegations have been proven. These kids not only caused trouble at the school but also off campus. There are thousands of kids that have attended the school without any problems. In the end we will find out what the little ratings your protecting were really like.
Iamgonnagetu
Thursday 20 September 2012 12:03 Report this comment
Should be darlings not ratings.
Truckmaster
Thursday 20 September 2012 16:58 Report this comment
Abuse is abuse. Discipline surely should be determined by the Commander; and it should never be abusive. And if as has been said, that these kids are troublemakers, they certainly the kids with the "rank" have also been previous troublemakers, with a history of poor decision making. Irregardless, St. John's is responsible for all the actions of their cadets and need to be held accountable if indeed serious injury as been inflicted upon any cadets.
JoelMBarr
Saturday 15 December 2012 17:47 Report this comment
I actually attended SJMS - went in as all Cadets do as a New Boy - and it was hard. And then I got my Old Boy status - and it connected me with a heritage and a family that I treasure to this day. I was just a plain old NCO...played sports and was on the rifle team...I really enjoyed most of my time there. Whereas these 11 and their families allege abuse, I can tell you there are thousands of us stretching all the way back to 1887 that came through those doors as New Boys that without the intervention of the staff and our superiors would be residents of correctional institutions and not productive members of society. We have served with distinction in the United States Military and many of us have gone on to great careers in a number of fields, all due to one school allowing us to explore our varied interests, while instilling within us a sense of duty, honor, loyalty, and respect.