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When news broke of the College Admissions Scandal in the US, many of us will have sat back knowingly and smiled thinking: “spoilt, privileged, rich brats getting yet more advantage by virtue of having been born into rich, movie star families.
When actress Felicity Huffman was sentenced to a token two weeks in jail for her part in the scandal, I did sit back and think to myself: “serves you right you cheating so and so. Getting just what you deserve”.
According to The Wall Street Journal:
Ms. Huffman had agreed to pay $15,000 to have *Mr. Singer’s proctor boost Sophia’s SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) score, without the teen’s knowledge.
Ms. Huffman pleaded guilty and served a two-week sentence at a Dublin, Calif., prison.
Sophia was a high-school senior at the time of the arrest.
Ms. Huffman said in court that in one particularly painful moment since the arrest, her daughter told her, “I don’t know who you are anymore, Mom.”
(*Singer is the mastermind of the entire scheme and has pleaded guilty to all charges. His company “The Key College & Career Network ” received more than $US25 million from parents).
Sophia’s comment points to her actually not knowing that mother had paid to screw the scrum. The as-yet largely untold story about this scam and arguably the most important part of it is the effect it has had on the kids themselves. The Wall Street Journal has uncovered just a small example of some of the damage done.
Matteo Sloane was home on spring break when FBI agents showed up at his family’s Spanish-style house in the hills of Bel-Air at 6:15 a.m. to take his father to jail.
“Why didn’t you believe in me?” Matteo asked. “Why didn’t you trust me?”
“It kind of takes the value away of the work I did to get there in the first place,” said Matteo, who took Advanced Placement classes, regularly made the honor roll his junior and senior years and speaks three languages fluently.
“I never stopped believing in you, not even for one second,” Mr. Sloane replied to his son that evening. “I lost sight of what was right, and I lost belief in myself.”
Devin Sloane is one of 36 parents who were charged (I’m guessing they won’t be the only ones and this is just the tip of the iceberg). Meanwhile, Sloane is serving a four-month prison term and who knows how much irreparable damage has been done to the family.
You’d have to wonder, given his son’s work ethic and commitment and clearly successful study record, just what exactly he was thinking.
There will be a psychological explanation (isn’t there always?) and it will be based on historical events in the parents’ own lives. Give the psychologists a few weeks and it will have a name ending with “syndrome” and it will be just another human dysfunction. When they’re caught cheating, xyz “syndrome” will be presented to the court along with a booking at some exclusive and expensive private rehab facility. There, that should sort it and make it all right.
The damage to the children I suspect will be long term.
How is it that so many of us seem to have lost all access to a moral compass?
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