Hazing and Sexual Assault

...A recent story broke in the news about a New Jersey high school who cancelled their very successful football program for the remainder of the 2014 season initially reported as a result of student athlete hazing. The media aldo reported how athletes parents were upset and angry for such a radical decision that affected an entire team for the misbehavior of a few players. I remember thinking right away that there was more to the story and said as much to my boyfriend Steve since we are both from NJ and felt somewhat related to it. Within a week as the media continued to investigate and report, the news that 7 members of the football team had been arrested for sexually assaulting younger players as part of a hazing ritual. It was an Aha! moment for me as my original speculation was correct and I saw that the entire football program was shut down by the administrators because of an ongoing investigation by the Middlesex County prosecutors office and they didn't know how far reaching it was and for how long it's been going on.

I tuned into the Today Show Monday morning (as I did every morning) eager to see the interview with Dr. Richard Labee, superintendent of the school district and Richard Ciak, school board president of Sayreville War Memorial High School. They became aware of the harassment, intimidation and bullying by the football players and decided to shut it down completely while they conduct further investigation of incidents in other athletic programs and extra curricular activities starting with the coaching staff. These two important leaders of the school district should be held up as a model for the way they have conducted themselves and reacted to what is a horrific incident. They put the well being of the victims first before the potential scrutiny they would be held under by the parents and the community. These men made a difficult decision but then again doing what's right isn't supposed to be easy. 

Although there were initial reports of some parents dissatisfied reactions those seem to be in the minority because a very large rally was organized in support of the victims and held over the weekend. Speaking from my experience as a victim/survivor of sexual assault the male victims in Sayreville need to know there are people on their side. It doesn't make what happened to them go away but it will help in their healing process which is a very long road to the end. Male sexual assault is rarely discussed or reported on in the media which can make these victims feel even more isolated but knowing the community and school administrators believe in them can make all the difference in the world.

This is not the only hazing and sexual assault report I have seen recently but it's the only one I've seen that was handled properly!

If you are interested in seeing the interview I have provided a link below:

The Today Show