Protecting Our Kids From Sexual Predators
I'm a child of the 60's where protest, free love and a few other questionable, non-mentionable mood altering methods flourished even amongst the pain and anguish of the Viet Nam war, which tore this country into ragged pieces.
Hippies, as they were called, were easily identifiable by their long hair and styling of their clothes, and if you were perhaps out of sight, the sounds of Jimmy Hendrix's wailing guitar or Janet Joplin's raspy voice, were always constant companions of the so called "undesirables.
" These undesirables, who believed in God, the government should be a servant to the people, not the slave master, although Mom and Dad weren't hip...
they were always respected, and no matter what Big Brother did...
don't mess with his little sister.
In my opinion, perhaps the main difference which defined that time of our lives and current day is, "There Were Rules Nobody Dared Violate" no matter the cause or the reason.
Unfortunately, that does not hold true today.
You'd have to live under a rock, a great big one, to not be aware of the sickeningly amount of allegations by young adults against Sports Coaches, of sexual molestation.
Based on our legal system of "innocent until proven guilty" I'm neither qualified nor am I passing judgment on anyone.
However, being a person who prides himself on being a person of common sense, I'll tend to follow the cliché "Where there's smoke, there's fire.
" Therefore, although I can't believe I'm writing an article to address this issue, I'd rather error on the side of "over-reaction" than "burying my head in the sand.
" I'd like to discuss the issue of Protecting our kids against predators.
" Predators of any type, which are capable of inflicting harm on our youth.
There are literally thousands and thousands of volunteer baseball coaches in this country which give of their time, money and energy in order to give kids an opportunity to learn and play the great game of baseball.
They not only coach baseball teams, they build and maintain the baseball parks and fields, they operate the concession stands and spend money out of their pocket buying unsold fund raising candy.
In a nutshell...
They are heroes.
Unfortunately, we'd be negligent in our duties to actually believe there are no predators amongst these thousands of coaches.
Youth baseball is not an island onto itself and is subject to the illnesses the rest of society is.
With a heavy heart, but with a strong resolution, I desperately urge all baseball associations to begin, or at least give serious consideration to instituting a background check on all coaches.
I realize several issues: 1.
The task is mammoth.
2.
Volunteer coaches may be reluctant to subject themselves to such an investigation presenting a coach shortage.
3.
Where does it end? What about the umpires, the people who cut the grass, set up the diamonds, or the concession stand operator? These are hard questions which must be dealt with eventually, but the system needs to begin somewhere.
I'll offer two suggestions which may kick start the thinking process, as I don't have all the answers, but you do.
1.
There are websites, operated by law enforcement, state or local governments which identify sexual predators living within a certain mileage or city circumference of any location.
A quick check of these sites will at least keep convicted predators from becoming involved with the baseball association.
True, unless convicted their name will not appear, but the check may discourage their attempt.
2.
I personally would be hesitate to give anyone my personal information, as "identify thief " is also an everyday crime.
I suggest the baseball association contact their local law enforcement agency and seek their advise and assistance.
Many, especially smaller yet modern, sheriff departments, will run a complete background check on an individual at No cost to the baseball association and the results will be confidential to the police, unless there is an issue.
Being a former coach and president of a baseball association, I realize time is a valuable commodity which there never is enough, but this could become the most important issue leaders might deal with.
Hippies, as they were called, were easily identifiable by their long hair and styling of their clothes, and if you were perhaps out of sight, the sounds of Jimmy Hendrix's wailing guitar or Janet Joplin's raspy voice, were always constant companions of the so called "undesirables.
" These undesirables, who believed in God, the government should be a servant to the people, not the slave master, although Mom and Dad weren't hip...
they were always respected, and no matter what Big Brother did...
don't mess with his little sister.
In my opinion, perhaps the main difference which defined that time of our lives and current day is, "There Were Rules Nobody Dared Violate" no matter the cause or the reason.
Unfortunately, that does not hold true today.
You'd have to live under a rock, a great big one, to not be aware of the sickeningly amount of allegations by young adults against Sports Coaches, of sexual molestation.
Based on our legal system of "innocent until proven guilty" I'm neither qualified nor am I passing judgment on anyone.
However, being a person who prides himself on being a person of common sense, I'll tend to follow the cliché "Where there's smoke, there's fire.
" Therefore, although I can't believe I'm writing an article to address this issue, I'd rather error on the side of "over-reaction" than "burying my head in the sand.
" I'd like to discuss the issue of Protecting our kids against predators.
" Predators of any type, which are capable of inflicting harm on our youth.
There are literally thousands and thousands of volunteer baseball coaches in this country which give of their time, money and energy in order to give kids an opportunity to learn and play the great game of baseball.
They not only coach baseball teams, they build and maintain the baseball parks and fields, they operate the concession stands and spend money out of their pocket buying unsold fund raising candy.
In a nutshell...
They are heroes.
Unfortunately, we'd be negligent in our duties to actually believe there are no predators amongst these thousands of coaches.
Youth baseball is not an island onto itself and is subject to the illnesses the rest of society is.
With a heavy heart, but with a strong resolution, I desperately urge all baseball associations to begin, or at least give serious consideration to instituting a background check on all coaches.
I realize several issues: 1.
The task is mammoth.
2.
Volunteer coaches may be reluctant to subject themselves to such an investigation presenting a coach shortage.
3.
Where does it end? What about the umpires, the people who cut the grass, set up the diamonds, or the concession stand operator? These are hard questions which must be dealt with eventually, but the system needs to begin somewhere.
I'll offer two suggestions which may kick start the thinking process, as I don't have all the answers, but you do.
1.
There are websites, operated by law enforcement, state or local governments which identify sexual predators living within a certain mileage or city circumference of any location.
A quick check of these sites will at least keep convicted predators from becoming involved with the baseball association.
True, unless convicted their name will not appear, but the check may discourage their attempt.
2.
I personally would be hesitate to give anyone my personal information, as "identify thief " is also an everyday crime.
I suggest the baseball association contact their local law enforcement agency and seek their advise and assistance.
Many, especially smaller yet modern, sheriff departments, will run a complete background check on an individual at No cost to the baseball association and the results will be confidential to the police, unless there is an issue.
Being a former coach and president of a baseball association, I realize time is a valuable commodity which there never is enough, but this could become the most important issue leaders might deal with.
Source...