PART 7
Josh’s eyes darted to the set of crisply folded clothing nearest to him. “Ah yes, that is the official athletic uniform of Sterncourt Military Academy for Boys,” his mother began. “It’s one of the highest rated military boarding schools on the East Coast. I’ve put the brochure right there with the uniform.”
On the bed before the red-faced teen lay a plain gray tee shirt with the single word “Sterncourt” emblazoned in black block letters on the front. Next to it was a set of navy blue athletic shorts with the same “Sterncourt” logo in white letters on the right leg. Next to that lay a pair of plain, white, canvas athletic shoes with a single black stripe and a pair of plain white cotton crew-length athletic socks.
“Look at the brochure,” his mother encouraged, “You could soon be one of those boys.” The poor boy’s mind was swirling. On the front, he read the subtitle “Molding Boys into Men Since 1924.” Shuddering a bit, he saw color photos of athletic boys sporting buzz cuts and doing calisthenics, marching in formation, and sitting attentively in austere classrooms. Words and phrases like “disciplined,” “rigorous,” “no-nonsense,” “demanding,” “strenuous,” “compulsory,” “highly regimented” and “strong code of peer accountability” jumped off the pages at him. Josh read with increasing concern that “Every minute of a cadet’s day is carefully structured and strictly supervised to ensure he remains on track physically, academically and socially. Cadets are required to participate in daily morning and evening inspections. Night and weekend group study halls are mandatory and monitored. All boys will participate in one or more contact sports such as football, wrestling or boxing. While parent visits are permitted at any time, we encourage a certain degree of family distance in the first year to let the Sterncourt mindset fully take hold.”
Finally, in a tiny footnote on the last page, Josh paled as he read the following disclaimer: “Corporal punishment is an integral part of the ‘Sterncourt Way’ to instill discipline. While administered only as a last resort, Sterncourt incorporates firm paddling into its program of corrective rehabilitation for infractions as necessary. To that end, a signed parental consent form for corporal punishment must accompany all applications for enrollment. For the safety and protection of students and faculty, paddlings are always witnessed by at least three faculty members and two senior members of the student council. In practice, these are typically executed in full view of the offending cadet’s platoon, and Saturday afternoons have become known colloquially as ‘Paddling Time.’ Please refer any additional questions on this topic to an administrator.”
Josh was already undersized and puny for his age. He had very soft and fine features and so far had not developed the muscles of many of his peers. He had never shown any athletic skill or inclination. He felt without a doubt that he would get eaten alive in a place like that. He had enough trouble fitting in with the boys at his current school. He couldn’t even get his brain to process the idea of being trapped somewhere like Sterncourt.
His mother interrupted his thoughts. “I spoke to the admissions director of Sterncourt yesterday. They will be happy to take you as a transfer student, and they are quite used to taking in new students mid-term for a variety of reasons. They said you would be placed in a special ‘catch-up’ program until the summer to learn your military drills and work on your physical fitness. When the other boys go home for the summer, you would stay for their intensive summer program to get you caught up with your classmates for the fall. Although it’s true they had some problems with hazing several years ago, the admissions director has assured me that is no longer a problem at Sterncourt.”
His mother went on, “The admissions director explained their process to me. The school handbook expressly forbids hazing. Any boy who reports being hazed is immediately removed to a special protective barracks while the school administration investigates. This usually takes two or three days. Afterwards, all the other boys in his dorm are re-educated and tested on the hazing policy to ensure they understand it. If anyone is found to be guilty of hazing another boy, they are given detention for at least three days at the first offense. Only then is the victim safely returned to his peers, secure in the knowledge that they have well learned their lesson. The school is very confident this works since no boy has ever reported a second hazing incident after they put this system in place.”
Josh cringed, and he was absolutely horrified by what she said next.
“If we leave this afternoon, we can be there by six o’clock. The admissions paperwork is already filled out, and they can receive you into a group dormitory tonight. If you so choose, you will wake up at dawn tomorrow morning in a bunk bed to start your first day at Sterncourt.”
“It could be a great opportunity for you,” his mother concluded seriously.
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Topic: New Arrangements for Josh (Read 97780 times)
