Will Young says teachers would leer at boys and ‘throw them against radiators’: ‘That’s why I’ve got PTSD’
Will Young. (Screen captures via Instagram/@willyoungofficial)
Will Young has said that his PTSD stems back to traumatic experiences of teachers being violent and sexually inappropriate towards pupils.
In a candid interview with The Guardian, the singer explained how he lives with post-traumatic stress disorder – which he has traced back to his boarding at a prep school in the 1980s.
Young said that at his school, in Berkshire, England, educators would look in on male students while they were using the showers.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about prep school, and wondering if any of those institutions will be brought to justice for the things that I saw happen,” he said.
“We weren’t allowed to wear pants under our football shorts,” Young added, “so my dick used to fall out of my football shorts when I got tackled. Less washing.
“I saw kids being made to change on the football pitch because they had worn pants. Teachers looking at our penises in the shower, in the bath.
“It was appalling. That’s why I’ve got PTSD. There was such a sense of injustice from things that I experienced and witnessed.
“I think I escaped – not that it didn’t damage me.”
Will Young claims phone was ‘ripped out’ so children couldn’t call family
Young claimed children were “thrown against radiators”, among “other things [he] can’t talk about”.
A phone for students to ring up their parents or guardians – or ChildLine – was “ripped out” by eductors, he said.
“That was a big deal for us. It was ripped out twice.”
Drunk teachers would “roll around dormitories”, the Pop Idol winner also alleged, and one “you wouldn’t go for a ride with”.
In navigating his PTSD, Will Young said he’s come to find the ways that best work for him to calm himself down. “For example, notice when you’re calm,” he said.
“Trains for me are the most calming things because I can see the world, but my hypervigilance isn’t on because I’m nice and cocooned.
“It’s perfect for me. I feel like I’ve meditated.”
