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Open letter to ALL CORPS DIRECTORS


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On 1/15/2022 at 12:12 AM, Leland said:

No, I don't get it either.  Just because someone turns 18 doesn't mean that they are suddenly fully consenting to any harassment they might encounter.  Like JimF said, it's about the maturity level, not the number.

And … if I understand correctly, and the Dear knows if I do … brains aren’t fully formed in a person until they are 25 , give or take a year. How many techs are under that age limit? How many bad decisions are being made by junior staff every day, especially with regard to interactions with MMs, whom are barely younger than they are? I could go in so many different directions on how this could go wrong, but I don’t think I have to.  Iron clad codes of conduct must not only be implemented, but enforced. End of rant. 

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7 hours ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

And … if I understand correctly, and the Dear knows if I do … brains aren’t fully formed in a person until they are 25 , give or take a year. How many techs are under that age limit? How many bad decisions are being made by junior staff every day, especially with regard to interactions with MMs, whom are barely younger than they are? I could go in so many different directions on how this could go wrong, but I don’t think I have to.  Iron clad codes of conduct must not only be implemented, but enforced. End of rant. 

This 👆👆👆👆and add in the potential 14+ teenage marching members.  For reasons of maturity & experience, you can't qualify for POTUS until you're 35.  (And who would really want that job.) 😁

In our education classes, we studied all of the brain development studies, child development, right brain/left brain, the 7 intelligences, & the numerous types of learning styles.  I think my brain is still developing...    

 

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As I said in another thread, a more direct action by the victim or witnesses is needed. The concept of whistleblower sites are fine -- and well meaning I suppose -- but immediately contacting the Police (911) forces an immediate response, action, investigations and / or questioning of the accused, the witnesses, and the victim or victims. 

Additionally, when the police are called generally the local media gets wind. The power of the press and good investigative journalism is one of the greatest things about this country. It doesn't take long for the media to spread the word to the local media from where the corps is located. This alone will help to raise many questions with local citizens about the function of the drum corps that resides in their hometown. Like why exactly do we let this organization raise money in our town so they can fly in kids from all over the country to perform while using our Bingo profits and other funds and donations? How exactly is this organization benefitting local youth? What is their purpose? What makes them so special to our community? Is this really a local youth arts organization? 

When some of these drum corps get home from tour to find negative press and a note from the community saying your lease will not be renewed and your rents are due they will see the bigger picture. When they get home and have many questions from local citizens and community leaders wanting to know how they actually benefit local youth and how their money is being used they will see the bigger picture. The power of the press and immediate action will either help us burn it down or be the savior for real change. 

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Agree that touring is the problem. I do not see drum corps continuing with the old tour formats. There was certainly some cool show stuff happening in 2021 both in Indy and via some of the artistic productions I saw- but no way is it reasonable to have a 14 year old travelling around the country on a bus with 21 year olds sharing showers and all of that. It just isn't going to work anymore in this day and age. So we can wait around for another shoe to drop or just put the old model out to pasture.

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5 hours ago, rysa4 said:

Agree that touring is the problem. I do not see drum corps continuing with the old tour formats. There was certainly some cool show stuff happening in 2021 both in Indy and via some of the artistic productions I saw- but no way is it reasonable to have a 14 year old travelling around the country on a bus with 21 year olds sharing showers and all of that. It just isn't going to work anymore in this day and age. So we can wait around for another shoe to drop or just put the old model out to pasture.

I agree with the concept of changing the touring model.

I disagree with  "It just isn't going to work anymore in this day and age." 

As long as corps have enough MM ($$$$$)  and staff  to tour, and as long as DCI can keep selling tickets to their events, there's no  reason to expect anything to change.

Unless and until the corps and DCI feel a financial "pinch" it can, unfortunately ,continue to be "business as usual" .

 

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On 1/14/2022 at 12:25 PM, fsthnds said:

WGI now requires mandatory "Abuse Prevention Training" for all WGI personnel (including judges and volunteers) along with all staff and leadership of all competing units. There has been talk about requiring this for all members

The two DCI corps I am most familiar with are technically BSA Explorer Posts.  As such, volunteers (for periods > 1 day) are required to complete BSA’s Youth Protection Training (YPT).  I hope that this is also required of corps staff.  Some BSA Troops also have the kids go through the training.  I think corps should have all members go through this training.  Of course, it also means the corps needs to implement policies and procedures that help enforce this training.  The YPT covers topics such as grooming and abusive behavior, drug and alcohol abuse, requirements for two deep leadership and no one-on-one contact, buddy system, separation of minors from 18+ members, etc.  The claim from BSA is that such training, policies and procedures do multiple things: simply having this deters abusers away from the organization, trains the members, leaders and volunteers to recognize the signs of grooming, empowers all involved to stop policy violations re one-on-one contact and such, etc.  

The corps absolutely must be better at taking care of issues as they arise because no matter what, some will still occur.  However, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

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12 minutes ago, DrummerParent said:

The two DCI corps I am most familiar with are technically BSA Explorer Posts.  As such, volunteers (for periods > 1 day) are required to complete BSA’s Youth Protection Training (YPT).  I hope that this is also required of corps staff.  Some BSA Troops also have the kids go through the training.  I think corps should have all members go through this training.  Of course, it also means the corps needs to implement policies and procedures that help enforce this training.  The YPT covers topics such as grooming and abusive behavior, drug and alcohol abuse, requirements for two deep leadership and no one-on-one contact, buddy system, separation of minors from 18+ members, etc.  The claim from BSA is that such training, policies and procedures do multiple things: simply having this deters abusers away from the organization, trains the members, leaders and volunteers to recognize the signs of grooming, empowers all involved to stop policy violations re one-on-one contact and such, etc.  

The corps absolutely must be better at taking care of issues as they arise because no matter what, some will still occur.  However, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Irony is so... ironic.  This coming from the BSA and what not.

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9 minutes ago, Daave said:

Irony is so... ironic.  This coming from the BSA and what not.

BSA, having lost multiple lawsuits, had to put this training into place or they wouldn’t be able to exist any longer.   For some reason DCI doesn’t see that they are in the exact same place BSA was before the lawsuits & criminal investigations began.  

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1 hour ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

BSA, having lost multiple lawsuits, had to put this training into place or they wouldn’t be able to exist any longer.   For some reason DCI doesn’t see that they are in the exact same place BSA was before the lawsuits & criminal investigations began.  

Beat me to saying it. Question will DCI and the corps do the same before the lawsuits and PR killing arrests start. 
 

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1 hour ago, Daave said:

Irony is so... ironic.  This coming from the BSA and what not.

As Illianalancercontra mentions, this training is in response to the issues and lawsuits BSA faced/faces.  Nothing wrong with learning from those who’ve been through the same problems and using the tools that they have established.  Simply having the training won’t solve all the problems but the training combined with procedures and policies that are followed and enforced will significantly reduce the number of future issues.  The corps need to foster an environment of prevention first and then being swift and thorough to take appropriate actions when issues do arise.

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