The whistleblowers and survivors of abuse in this industry are tired...

[Jeff Ream]

10 hours ago, scheherazadesghost said:

Reamy, you and I probably don't see eye-to-eye on everything... but I feel you here and in many other cases I've seen you speak to on DCP. But ultimately, those of us that are willing to adjust our perspective in a way that allows for the inclusion MORE people in the pageantry arts, not less, are on the winning side.

Also, each of us have some Kylo Ren in us...and also some Chewy. Thank goodness. My own Cavie-mentor spoke often to me about how he associates me with Anakin before he passed... so there's some curious drum corps mythos for you. 🙂

Most of us (that I respect on DCP) agree on the firm lines between abuse and tough love. If anyone else is confused about that, ask an elder here on DCP who's been through it. Most of us will clearly demarcate the difference.

I just want to be Kylo because of the lightsaber. I’m pure Han Solo as a person. Never tell me the odds, and I landed the princess! 
 

I do have to ask…. How’d you figure out Reamy? Only a select few from my high school days have ever called me that.

 

oh… and I had an issue with unwanted advances in my first year marching. I’ve not talked about it because luckily in 1989 I brought it up to a staff member and it was addressed and resolved. To both of our credits we worked it out and are friends today.

[scheherazadesghost]

1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

I just want to be Kylo because of the lightsaber. I’m pure Han Solo as a person. Never tell me the odds, and I landed the princess!

Love this.

1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

I do have to ask…. How’d you figure out Reamy? Only a select few from my high school days have ever called me that.

I appreciate how our communication has evolved since I first joined DCP, so it seemed like a natural term of endearment. 👍

1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

oh… and I had an issue with unwanted advances in my first year marching. I’ve not talked about it because luckily in 1989 I brought it up to a staff member and it was addressed and resolved. To both of our credits we worked it out and are friends today.

This is what good leadership does. I'm very glad this situation ended for you all in this way. I think an argument could be made that most situations end this way because most staff have good intentions and know what to do?? Gosh I hope that's true!

Yes. It's when either ignorance or life experiences prevent leadership from addressing these situations swiftly and ethically that it makes matters worse. Even when reports become rare bc the industry has improved, all staffers should still know what to do. One survivor falling through cracks is unacceptable.

I had to teach myself mandated reporting requirements (as a youth arts educator with a terminal degree) because not a single arts education institution I learned from or worked for addressed it. Even the ones to which I filed reports based on student disclosure: I've been told to my face by BODs that safeguarding youth isn't a priority. I don't trust SafeSport fully, but at least it gets the info out there. It's a start. I hope it at least gives staff and MMs some common language and actions to take if a violation happens.

I had nothing the first time a student disclosed to me.

[IllianaLancerContra]

3 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

I just want to be Kylo because of the lightsaber. I’m pure Han Solo as a person. Never tell me the odds, and I landed the princess! 
 

I do have to ask…. How’d you figure out Reamy? Only a select few from my high school days have ever called me that.

 

oh… and I had an issue with unwanted advances in my first year marching. I’ve not talked about it because luckily in 1989 I brought it up to a staff member and it was addressed and resolved. To both of our credits we worked it out and are friends today.

Ghost is in her name.  No telling the haunts she has occupied.  😎

[Jeff Ream]

1 hour ago, scheherazadesghost said:

Love this.

I appreciate how our communication has evolved since I first joined DCP, so it seemed like a natural term of endearment. 👍

This is what good leadership does. I'm very glad this situation ended for you all in this way. I think an argument could be made that most situations end this way because most staff have good intentions and know what to do?? Gosh I hope that's true!

Yes. It's when either ignorance or life experiences prevent leadership from addressing these situations swiftly and ethically that it makes matters worse. Even when reports become rare bc the industry has improved, all staffers should still know what to do. One survivor falling through cracks is unacceptable.

I had to teach myself mandated reporting requirements (as a youth arts educator with a terminal degree) because not a single arts education institution I learned from or worked for addressed it. Even the ones to which I filed reports based on student disclosure: I've been told to my face by BODs that safeguarding youth isn't a priority. I don't trust SafeSport fully, but at least it gets the info out there. It's a start. I hope it at least gives staff and MMs some common language and actions to take if a violation happens.

I had nothing the first time a student disclosed to me.

In 1989 this was never a topic pretty much anywhere. If incidents happened most often it was swept under the rug. 
 

and you’ve earned the right to use that nickname even if you weren’t a Camp Hill Lion 

[C.Holland]

16 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

IMO DCI is one lawsuit away from extinction

yes. But the organization, as it currently exists, only seems to work best for people who look like you and I.    

[C.Holland]

16 hours ago, scheherazadesghost said:

Thank you, @C.Holland. I completely agree. Yes.

To be clear: some of us are outside of the statute of limitations... those of us that aren't often have steep hills to climb.

And as usual, I'm hamstringed by the two extremes: either nothing continues to happen OR the industry collapses. I don't think that either extreme outcome needs to be drum corps' fate. And I will fight for survivor reconciliation outside of the formalized legal system for the rest of my life because I believe in the the goodness that can come from the drum corps experience. ... and yet, I still believe that our current legal system has the potential to sap all good intentions from those anyone who engages it.

That said, arbitration is crucial for those survivors who have been harmed in situations by adults who can't manage to accurately assign accountability. I am in full support of those survivors. In all other situations, in which reasonable adults have the capacity to reach solutions for safeguarding young people AND identifying their own culpability/accountability, I firmly support survivors that seek extra-legal reconciliation.

I'm relived and proud to say that, so far,  leadership at SCV has left this door-of-reconciliation open to me... and I will engage them in my own time. What about those survivors, from other corps who endured worse than me, who ultimately have less luck than I did?

Nothing is simple.

To those of you willing to still engage with this topic (either passively or actively): thank you!

There's enough brains in the overall organization, that it's not going to die.  It'll need a serious purge, and operational revamping.   But frankly, there's just too many who WANT to do it, to let it die.   

There's a lovely old saying that "HR is setup to protect the company, not the employee"

I believe that if someone has an issue.  Don't wait for the corps board to "solve" it,  don't wait for the director to "solve" it.  Get law enforcement involved.  Get a lawyer on it.   At worst, things come to light, and there's some reshuffling of a corps BOD and leadership changes.  But the ability to actually fix something that's been broken for decades is what's on the table.  It likely requires a purge.  And many average white cis dudes will cry into their morning coffee over it.  f em.  If the activity can't protect its greatest asset, it shouldn't exist. 

[greg_orangecounty]

On 9/3/2022 at 8:29 AM, scheherazadesghost said:

These were my chosen platforms because I thought I would be heard and honored.

I think you are heard.  What is it you are seeking?  

[scheherazadesghost]

1 hour ago, greg_orangecounty said:

I think you are heard.  What is it you are seeking?  

The most reasonable thing I'm seeking is the very dialogue that's happening in the thread under the control of a survivor, when it hadn't been before. That's pretty much all I can ask for.

Other than that? A community on a platform that is ready and able to support future survivors. This is the closest I've found, DCP. The rest out there is so much worse.

[greg_orangecounty]

1 hour ago, scheherazadesghost said:

The most reasonable thing I'm seeking is the very dialogue that's happening in the thread under the control of a survivor, when it hadn't been before. That's pretty much all I can ask for.

Other than that? A community on a platform that is ready and able to support future survivors. This is the closest I've found, DCP. The rest out there is so much worse.

Peace and healing to you and all other survivors that this activity hurt.  Thank you for your response. 

[Jeff Ream]

6 hours ago, C.Holland said:

yes. But the organization, as it currently exists, only seems to work best for people who look like you and I.    

i didn't say what kind of lawsuit.