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effectively put in their place. Academically, Clem was head and shoulders ahead of his peers. In a sense they revered him. He was the symbol of hope to so many of us; of how you can have personality and intelligence in abundance. Money can’t buy everything, you see. Nonetheless, the odd ribbing went on, but nothing too serious or untoward. He was consistent with his temperament. No, I wouldn’t have regarded him as calculated; he was a normal young man. No, I wouldn’t have regarded him as a loner either, or, for that matter, an extrovert. He kept himself at arm’s-length from his peers, but he was sociable and likeable. He knew his direction in life.
    Only one incident springs to mind, it really was so insignificant that it isn’t worth noting. Clem had to be reprimanded for striking another boy. More of a slap actually, nothing of note as I said. I think the other lad was questioning, firstly, his parentage and, secondly, his sexual orientation. Apparently this had been going on for some time and Clem had hit breaking point, so naturally he lashed out and struck the other boy. You could say his anger superseded his rationale. The comments stopped immediately after the incident. If one questions his actions one has to ask if he was vindicated given the intense and systematic levels of provocation.
    My advice, as I have given throughout the years to students who have been victims of such circumstances, some scholars may say unprofessionally so, has been to provide them with two options: one, inform a teacher, which will quite possibly lead to a continuation as well as an escalation of the ribbing, or bullying if you prefer. Or, two, hit the perpetrator as hard as you can, with or without warning. My belief was that option two would determine that the hounding and discrimination would cease.
    Yes, this was advice I offered Clem at the time. He subsequently took up option two. The problems stopped for him and the school environment became a pleasurable one again. While my methods may be construed as somewhat idiosyncratic or maverick I would pose the question, was I wrong? In light of what’s occurred you could say my judgment was skewed a touch. I have gone over this time and time again, do I feel some semblance of responsibility for what has occurred? Does that absolve me from what has happened? Concretely, yes. Philosophically, no. Existentially, well on that one I oscillate.
    There are of course a few areas that require further explanation and clarification, namely, what was the school’s role in all of this? Why did no member of staff anticipate, or foresee, the peril ahead? And the girl implicated with Clem, what is her pedigree? What is her motive? No doubt these questions will all be unearthed after a proper and thorough investigation.

Rosie Farrell’s Mum’s Concern
    Don’t get me wrong I was delighted when Rosie and Clem became an item. To me it appeared that it wasn’t just your usual boyfriend girlfriend high school romance, but a proper relationship. You know, an item.
    As a mother you always worry about your family. I only had the one so all my worry was naturally placed onto Rosie. I know it wasn’t fair on her, there were times when I tried to take a back seat and let her make her own way, make her own mistakes; but I can tell you when a mother does that and watches from the sidelines it’s heartbreaking. I just didn’t want to intrude all the time. I thought that if I gave her space to breathe that it would bring us a wee bit closer together.
    Yes, in a way I suppose thinking back I was jealous of Clem. He was playing the role I wanted to play. The role I should have been playing. Don’t take this the wrong way, it wasn’t as if I wanted the two of us to sit down and discuss the birds and the bees. Teenagers are no daft these days. They probably know more than I do now. Our Rosie could probably teach me a thing or two. As a parent you often wonder