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Sexual Assault: Spirit of Atlanta 2021


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13 minutes ago, bldbrkr said:

It has.  I don't want to stir the pot, but my years in drumcorps were filled with MANY inappropriate happenings.  I think that even with all the things going on now, it pales in comparison.  So often, the abused became the abusers.  The list of things that need to be changed is huge.

Even zero tolerance hasn't prevented abuse in other sports and arts.

 

 

No law or policy stops all illegal activity. But we sure as hell can punish those who do wrong. 
Wrong BITD and wrong now…

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8 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

No law or policy stops all illegal activity. But we sure as hell can punish those who do wrong. 
Wrong BITD and wrong now…

I agree,  but before we get to the bitd, I want to fix the now, NOW.  Immediate  training or retraining must be done at the earliest possible time for any corps participating in any tour in 2022.    Either a corps dedicates, during a camp time,  a focused day of this for the org., or dedicates Day #1 of ST for training.  No corps gets to hit the road this year, or participate in any DCI sponsored event without submitting to DCI, a certified doc proving implementation, execution and compliance with a training program.  DCI, on its website, should then  publish a link to these docs and outlines a season long monitoring program; with monitors names and their contact info along with an incident reporting process,  so current mm’s & parents, future mm’s & parents and all fans know of this.  Keep it open, keep it safe,  keep a light on it.

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4 minutes ago, LabMaster said:

I agree,  but before we get to the bitd, I want to fix the now, NOW.  Immediate  training or retraining must be done at the earliest possible time for any corps participating in any tour in 2022.    Either a corps dedicates, during a camp time,  a focused day of this for the org., or dedicates Day #1 of ST for training.  No corps gets to hit the road this year, or participate in any DCI sponsored event without submitting to DCI, a certified doc proving implementation, execution and compliance with a training program.  DCI, on its website, should then  publish a link to these docs and outlines a season long monitoring program; with monitors names and their contact info along with an incident reporting process,  so current mm’s & parents, future mm’s & parents and all fans know of this.  Keep it open, keep it safe,  keep a light on it.

Sorry that wasn’t the point of my bringing up BITD. Poster I quoted was talking about things being bad then. My point was conditions BITD have nothing to do with today.

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As a bit of an update, there is another investigation going on connected to Spirit of Atlanta.  I know some folks are aware, but I know that at least one person who brought forth concerns has asked for nothing to be shared at this time, so I'm going to withhold sharing for now.  This investigation is not limited to Spirit and/or drum corps.   

I'm not vague posting, but I am trying to bring attention that there is more happening that led to this decision/directive for Spirit to suspend operations for 2022.  

I've moved from shocked to anger to determination to do something the more I learn about how many abusers have been allowed to stay in this activity because people are afraid to "name names" or call organizations out or simply allow folks to "pursue other opportunities."    It is sickening.  

Edited by GetOFFmyDot
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20 minutes ago, bldbrkr said:

It has.  I don't want to stir the pot, but my years in drumcorps were filled with MANY inappropriate happenings.  I think that even with all the things going on now, it pales in comparison.  So often, the abused became the abusers.  The list of things that need to be changed is huge.

Even zero tolerance hasn't prevented abuse in other sports and arts.

 

 

You’re correct in what you are saying about zero tolerance. Everyone says they have a zero tolerance policy, at least in theory. Some are better at implementing it than others. In the case of Spirit, the issues may not be the  fact sexual harassment/misconduct occurred, but whether it was the symptom or the problem. When you combine the complaint with “Rookie Talent Night,” I suspect both are symptoms. The problems stem from mismanagement. When the accuser mentioned the way the situation was handled, all sorts of red flags were waving, at least for me. Combining this with the Rookie Talent Night and you had to wonder about leadership. Add to this that it happened in 2021 when the corps were supposed to be hyper vigilant due to Covid protocols, it’s evident that Spirit had serious problems with management/leadership issues. In some respects this is not surprising. In far less serious areas, there has been evidence of management issues with Spirit for a number of years. If you’re not attentive in small areas, you probably won’t be attentive in larger areas.

If Spirit returns in 2023, which may or may not happen, I don’t think we can be reassured if we read of a strict sexual misconduct policy, promises to report all incidents, compliance officers, or the like. All these things are important but how strong is the leadership is and how will the corps members and staff be monitored are more important issues. This ensures the policies will be followed.

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57 minutes ago, bldbrkr said:

It has.  I don't want to stir the pot, but my years in drumcorps were filled with MANY inappropriate happenings.  I think that even with all the things going on now, it pales in comparison.  So often, the abused became the abusers.  The list of things that need to be changed is huge.

Even zero tolerance hasn't prevented abuse in other sports and arts.

 

 

 We will never be able to prevent all inappropriate behavior or abuse in Drum Corps unless the activity completely goes away. 

But what we CAN do with a zero tolerance policy is 

(1) make sure the victims are taken seriously, with processes & procedures in place to address any incident, &

(2) discipline (to potentially include a lifetime ban from the activity as well as being reported to law enforcement) any members &/or staff who engage, enable, or ignore inappropriate behavior.

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5 minutes ago, Tim K said:

You’re correct in what you are saying about zero tolerance. Everyone says they have a zero tolerance policy, at least in theory. Some are better at implementing it than others. In the case of Spirit, the issues may not be the  fact sexual harassment/misconduct occurred, but whether it was the symptom or the problem. When you combine the complaint with “Rookie Talent Night,” I suspect both are symptoms. The problems stem from mismanagement. When the accuser mentioned the way the situation was handled, all sorts of red flags were waving, at least for me. Combining this with the Rookie Talent Night and you had to wonder about leadership. Add to this that it happened in 2021 when the corps were supposed to be hyper vigilant due to Covid protocols, it’s evident that Spirit had serious problems with management/leadership issues. In some respects this is not surprising. In far less serious areas, there has been evidence of management issues with Spirit for a number of years. If you’re not attentive in small areas, you probably won’t be attentive in larger areas.

If Spirit returns in 2023, which may or may not happen, I don’t think we can be reassured if we read of a strict sexual misconduct policy, promises to report all incidents, compliance officers, or the like. All these things are important but how strong is the leadership is and how will the corps members and staff be monitored are more important issues. This ensures the policies will be followed.

The same zero tolerance policy needs to be in place at the DCI office and done for all DCI judges, show staff, co-ordinators and volunteers!

 

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11 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Sorry that wasn’t the point of my bringing up BITD. Poster I quoted was talking about things being bad then. My point was conditions BITD have nothing to do with today.

I understand what you meant.  At least I think I do. I also understand that to fully address a “go forward”,  history must be reviewed.  It’s the “doomed to repeat it” contention.  So bitd does have some relevance to today.  Stay well.

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12 minutes ago, LabMaster said:

I understand what you meant.  At least I think I do. I also understand that to fully address a “go forward”,  history must be reviewed.  It’s the “doomed to repeat it” contention.  So bitd does have some relevance to today.  Stay well.

Ok now I understand. And “doomed to repeat” is one of my favorite sayings/warnings.

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39 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

 We will never be able to prevent all inappropriate behavior or abuse in Drum Corps unless the activity completely goes away. 

But what we CAN do with a zero tolerance policy is 

(1) make sure the victims are taken seriously, with processes & procedures in place to address any incident, &

(2) discipline (to potentially include a lifetime ban from the activity as well as being reported to law enforcement) any members &/or staff who engage, enable, or ignore inappropriate behavior.

Pffftt they don’t even get rid of the people they know about if they win captions. 

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