How do we rid our activity of this behavior

[Kyle B]

The sad thing is that these people are everywhere. Some can be educators who have passed all background checks and are clean on the radar, and some are just joe-schmo's.

The best thing everyone can do is keep a vigil lookout, and if you see anything suspicious going on, report it to the administration or authorities right away.

[Jeff Ream]

The Question is

How do we rid our activity of this behavior??

And I wish I had a answer for that. Sadly I do not.

This is going on all across our country. I know of at least 2 DCA corps members in just the last couple of years that have been music educators that have been arrested,,tried and convicted on various charges simular to these and worse.

DCA All Age activity mixes adults with children and wackos like this will just be drawn into it. Its like hunting over a baited field. Perhaps as the all age gets lower and looms of a age cap gets down the road you may see less and less of this sort of thing but you are still going to have staff members of adult age and how do you prevent some pervert from injecting himself/herself into the ranks? Most of these people you hear about that have been arrested have all had clean records and could pass a background check anywhere.

it's not just a DCA problem..there's been issues in DCI at times, WGI, and high school bands everywhere. In my area alone there's been 3 cases in the last few years.

Can corps require background checks? Sure they could, but if someone hasn't been busted, what's that prove? I'd be more upset if a corps allowed someone with issues in their past in, and that HAS happened, in the last few years.

[84BDsop]

That's an excellent point. I think usually the problem is incompetence not malice on the part of the press.

For a detailed example of media misinterpretations, albeit on a much less serious subject, I recommend this article:

An Anglo-Saxonist Gets his Fifteen Minutes: or, what happens whenthe media briefly pays attention

To wit:

"When I read the article, I quickly got a lesson in how reporters can write the story that they want to write whether or not this story is true. And yet I couldn’t find any single example in which I was actually misquoted. I suddenly understood how people can claim that their words have been taken ‘out of context’ when being interviewed. That description is not quite right: it’s not so much that things are out of context as they are re-emphasized, manipulated, and given a ‘spin’ that the original speaker never intended."

That's very timely information, as there's a chance I might be talking to a reporter Sunday at a fencing tournament (he's doing a story on the sport).

Also about drum corps, as I took the opportunity in our email exchanges to suggest a story on drum corps.

[Kansan]

There is not much you can do. I'd say for starters, each organization should pen a policy on sexual conduct and sexual harassment. Seeing this up front might deter some of these people from joining up. Use a background check system. To work with the Boy Scouts you have to take annual online classes on this stuff. Staff and members need to be vigilant and nip the problem in the bud before it gets to be a problem.

[JimF-LowBari]

Do corps have liability insurance policies that would cover problems like this? Asking because I was on VP of council of my Lutheran Church (we were that hard up for members) and started background checks, training, etc just before the Catholic Church scandals came into the open. Wish I could say we were ahead of the curve but the churches insurance carrier was the one to (very strongly) recommend we get our act together. Sad to say the real reason why a lot of people agreed to is was it saved the church money in insurance costs and not because it should have been done anyway. Insurance company set up the training and told us what was needed for background checks.

Soooootell people that they might save money by doing this might get them off the stick.....

[Kansan]

Do corps have liability insurance policies that would cover problems like this? Asking because I was on VP of council of my Lutheran Church (we were that hard up for members) and started background checks, training, etc just before the Catholic Church scandals came into the open. Wish I could say we were ahead of the curve but the churches insurance carrier was the one to (very strongly) recommend we get our act together. Sad to say the real reason why a lot of people agreed to is was it saved the church money in insurance costs and not because it should have been done anyway. Insurance company set up the training and told us what was needed for background checks.

Soooootell people that they might save money by doing this might get them off the stick.....

Why would an insurance company include sexually deviant behavior in their policy? We can get insurance that cover human non accidental behavior? If we can great, I've just never heard of hit.

[JimF-LowBari]

Why would an insurance company include sexually deviant behavior in their policy? We can get insurance that cover human non accidental behavior? If we can great, I've just never heard of hit.

My understanding was the policy covered damages/lawsuits from all things where the church could be considered negligent/liable. Sexual behavior was not spelled out but the costs from a lawsuit of this type could be so great that the insurance company would be willing to reduce the premium if we took steps to reduce the chances of it happening. Saved the insurer in the long run if no cases of this ever came up. Again this was just before the Catholic church scandal hit the media big time and sure the insurer saw what was coming. And to be honest we were doing nothing to watch out for abuse.

Later we put up "No Skateboarding" signs in the back parking lot to keep kids from wiping out and the parents suing. Didn't get a cut in insurance that time but had an interesting talk from one "unique" council member that started with "I don't think anyone would sue a church"...

PS - thanks for the reply as I had no idea what insurance corps carry outside of some comments concerning what the Minis need to be able to compete Friday night at DCA.

Edit: Great.. reminded me of the time we had to tell a middle aged youth group helper (Sonny) to quit being so "huggy" with the teenage girls. Some didn't like it and we (council) found out second hand. Shame on us for not having a reporting policy that people who felt they were being harassed could follow. Well huggy Sonny took offense to being told and last I heard was planning to sue us for defamation of character or sumthin'.... That was about 15 years ago and still waiting....

Edited October 21, 2013 by JimF-LowBari

[drumlaw80]

Respectfully speaking, you and a thousand friends sitting at keyboards for six months could not possibly write more about this topic and drum corps than a few people did on the RAMD newsgroup, daily, for several years. That unmoderated virtual happy valley soon turned into a PR nightmare for the activity, IMO.

Personally, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see it as a bigger issue in DCI or DCA than it is for the rest of American society, schools etc. The idea of holding drum corps to a higher background check standard than public schools is not realistic.

[JimF-LowBari]

Personally, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see it as a bigger issue in DCI or DCA than it is for the rest of American society, schools etc. The idea of holding drum corps to a higher background check standard than public schools is not realistic.

I'd say hold them to same standards in checks to cut the odds. Lot of holes in the check system but knowing that a group does not check can be a magnet for some abusers. And according to the years back training I had there are some that will latch onto groups that do not check as more and more did start checks. One on the reasons churches were getting hit harder back in the 90s as BSA, schools did checks and some churches... well just trusted too much and didn't do crap.

Edited October 23, 2013 by JimF-LowBari

[GUARDLING]

I'd say hold them to same standards in checks to cut the odds. Lot of holes in the check system but knowing that a group does not check can be a magnet for some abusers. And according to the years back training I had there are some that will latch onto groups that do not check as more and more did start checks. One on the reasons churches were getting hit harder back in the 90s as BSA, schools did checks and some churches... well just trusted too much and didn't do crap.

I agree checks can help, although remember most people in our activity that are put in a position of authority either a director or an instructor have been around for quite a while. Now this doesnt mean they can't be an abuser BUT either they never got caught which means they can continue and would not have a record or they have been caught and most of us would already know. It's a small community where nothing gets hidden....most of the time