Opinion
I met Richard Barren a few times while he was the principal of Langwarrin Park Primary School, in Melbourne’s south-east. He was gregarious, enthusiastic, professional and proud of his school.
I particularly noticed the fondness with which he spoke about his students. I raked through my old meeting notes and found I’d written the words “potential” and “full of possibilities” as being how Barren described the children in his school.
I fell for it.
Last week, Barren was sentenced to effectively three paltry months of prison time for having some of the most disgusting child abuse material on his phone that anyone – let alone a school principal – might have.
And, despite more than three decades of working with teachers and teaching myself, collaborating with principals and also being one – my meetings with Barren didn’t raise a single red flag. I admit to being both confused and ashamed about that.
The meek and feeble nature of the Barren sentence has landed with incredulity on many of the school’s parents. They’re rightly confounded that a man afforded the trust of being a safe figure in the entire community’s eye could have betrayed them so deeply.
I remember, from my principal days, seeing the nervous faces of parents as they handed their children into my care – a bloke running a primary school. I felt the gravity of that responsibility and I accepted it.
The notion that a fellow member of the principal fraternity could have content on his phone revealing that he “love[s] perving on pool change rooms” sickens me.
Barren’s reply to a fellow Grindr user enquiring as to his age limits for potential prey was that there’s “no limit. the younger the better” left me stunned.
When I read further of the vile imagery and videos saved on a second phone of his, of grown men with girls around 12 years of age, I was enraged.
Principals are not just extractors of the best possible NAPLAN scores from our children. We are the custodians of a precious community trust. Barren’s indiscretions are far more than a crime. They’re a breach of a relational covenant.
While I’d loathe to be a judge considering the full plethora of factors in such cases, three months’ jail feels grotesquely meagre. I guess it’s another simple case of courts sentencing crimes, but communities carrying the consequences.
Beyond the parents of one school, the wider teaching community is also shamed by the full revelation of Barren’s offences. Each of the 141,000 registered and dedicated teachers across Victoria now stands in the shadow of his conduct.
Each now must strive that little bit harder for the parents of their students to trust them. Each knows what that lingering stare over a parental shoulder as they walk away from an early childhood classroom is really all about.
The outrage of our educators is also justifiable, as they must now accept that one predator has the power to unfairly stain their entire profession. Already living and working under intense scrutiny and strict ethical standards, their efforts to meet safeguarding requirements are already exhaustive.
This is why the Langwarrin Park PS story is awful, but equally important as it draws us to confront a hideously inconvenient truth. Deep down, we know there’s no way to psych test evil away. There’s no survey or observation that can weed out every paedophile.
Screening can always be made more robust – but it will remain as fallible as I was when I chatted cheerily with Barren over coffee. Even the tightest of systems will fail to eliminate human deception.
Allowing our outrage to lead us to the complete mistrust of every school employee welcomes a different and permanent harm upon our school communities.
Turning a blind eye is also no alternative.
And so, the community of Langwarrin Park PS is left with a dual burden. They have a rightful outrage to carry, at the same time as they hope to build a future for their children that requires deep trust of their school.
Fortunately, I’ve met most of the staff in that wonderful school and that trust – of my informed, experienced and imperfect observation – is well-placed.
Without trust, parents hover unhelpfully over qualified teachers and school leaders. Those teachers are then prone to retreating, removing the personal connection that underpins the best growth and learning.
Our schools become frightened, defensive institutions and children absorb the anxiety flowing through their corridors.
Trusting relationships are the foundations of learning and the fuel of growth. No school can thrive in a climate of entrenched suspicion.
When this happens, we need to grieve, denounce and ensure full accountability without abandoning our commitment to trust.
For if we stop trusting our schools, it’s our kids who will pay twice for the crimes of an infinitesimally small number of perpetrators.
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
Adam Voigt is a former principal and founder and CEO of Real Schools.
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Adam Voigt is a former principal and founder and CEO of Real Schools.
