Consequences are given by direct authorities of the athletic
community or by our judicial system. These consequences usually center on fines
and suspensions. Suspensions can be anywhere from one game to a lifetime
suspension, but lifetime suspensions are rare. The NBA donates there fines to
charities, but let’s be specific. How about when these offenders receive fines,
they are required to pay a charity(s)
directly associated with their offense? The NBA is the first to start this with Sterling's fines going toward promoting anti-discrimination and tolerance.
The NFL chooses only four charities (the Lombardi Cancer Research
Center, Brian Piccolo Cancer Fund, ALS Neuromuscular Research Foundation, and
the Player's Association Assistance Trust Fund), none related to
actual violence, which is usually the reason of the offense. Why are the fines
not given to evidence based programs for violence prevention or intervention?
Who has the power in
these situations and what can they do about negative behavior?
1. Judicial
System Judges have discretion in their sentencing. Advocate for sentencing
befitting of the act. Get creative with sentencing. Develop sentencing guidelines with advocacy
groups of the associated issue. There is a 35%
conviction rate of athletes accused of sexual assault compared with 77%
of the general public according to the Los Angeles Times writer Maryann Hudson.
If Judges could give alternative, meaningful, sentencing this might be higher.
2. Sports
Commissioners (i.e. NBA’s Adam Silver, NFL’s Roger Goodell, etc.) can tie in
behavior clauses into contracts. Commissioners need to meet as a group and make
decisions about what clauses will be consistent with every contract. No
negotiation with violence clauses. They
should be a part of every contract. The commissioners can develop a website to include fans as to the distribution of fines athletes receive. If the issue is violence, organizations can post their evidence based programs and fans can vote. Make the organizations part of the solution.
3. Sponsors
– There are some sponsors who drop athletes from their endorsement deals, but
what about those they keep? Riders in contracts about negative behavior can
allow endorsement deals to be void when athletes break the law. Sponsors can
use the media attention to support their product because they reinforce values
and ethics towards non-violence. The sponsor can give the remaining contract of the athlete to the corresponding charities and publicize their work. Or include the public by changing the profit of a footwear product of the athlete's to go to charity. Write this behavior clause in every contract.
4. Other
Athletes – Positive and negative peer pressure. Turning jerseys inside out is
great team solidarity. What about in the
locker room? Taking other athletes aside to discuss how they handle stress,
encourage counseling, or exert social pressure about what is not acceptable
behavior for a person, can be effective ways of addressing the situation. The most important thing is back up your words
with behavior.
5. Fans
– Fans are powerful. Organized bans of fanfare buying, writing letters to
sponsors saying you will not buy X until action is taken, or organizing campaigns
on social media addressing unacceptable behavior can make a difference. Money
and perception tied together is an avenue to create change. Make your voice
heard through social media outlets for alternative sentencing and sanctions
impacting these athletes and their owners. Send shout outs on Facebook, make
memes on Tumblr or tweet (#nomorekobejerseys) when you choose NOT to buy
something because of negative behavior.
When Women Athletes
Attack
There are many less women who are in sports committing violent
acts, but there are a few. When a female athlete commits a crime what happens
to her? Tonya Harding committed a crime of clubbing Nancy Kerrigan’s knee. What
was her consequence? She was banned for life from competing in the United
States. Have you heard of any consequence this severe in football, hockey, or
basketball? No. Extended prison sentences are the only thing holding back
professional male athletes.
Solutions
Below is a chart encouraging alternate sentencing for
athletes. This excludes sentencing guidelines for assaults, sexual assaults, DUI manslaughter, and other behaviors punishable by prison time.
Behavior
|
Volunteer
Activity or exercise
|
Learning
Outcomes
|
Acts
of poor sportsmanship
|
AYSO soccer coach, finance and create a video/website/app
about good sportsmanship
|
everyone plays, balanced teams, and positive
coaching, prevention for future generations
|
Animal
Abuse
|
Pet shelters, working with Animal Cops/Rescue, finance and create a
documentary about animal abuse
|
Learning empathy, seeing the devastating effects of abuse and neglect
|
Assault
– Male to Male. or Female to Female
|
Anger management classes, counseling, group therapy,
finance and become a part of an advocacy group to address violence of youth
in a school system, create anger management app
|
Education and empathy training, prevention for future generations
|
Assault
– Male to Female, or Female to Male
|
Attend a 40 hour DV training, attend counseling, group therapy, Anger management classes, Advocate
with NASW about policy changes for DV in the national agenda, Finance and
participate in a documentary about an
aspect of DV, become a board member of a DV prevention program,
|
Education and empathy training, prevention for future generations
|
DUI
|
Develop a video about consequences of driving drunk,
hear from parents and friends of people who have died from drunk drivers,
develop course for other DUI drivers with hands on experiences (donating
virtual reality equipment etc.) Start a foundation for distribution of a free
Breathalyzer.
|
Educate self and community about dangers to drinking
and driving. Empathy and understanding of consequences.
|
Racism
|
Volunteer at the NAACP, volunteer at homeless shelters,
Develop curriculum for team based learning about racism with
specialists, attend and facilitate program to companies about diversity,
exposure to diverse situations across the "ism" spectrum, fund and develop free apps addressing diversity acceptance for kids
|
Education and sensitization of diverse populations, empathy
development, prevention for future generations
|
Substance
Abuse
|
Start a AA, NA, or CA group and continue it for a
year, volunteer at homeless shelters, create free lectures and YouTube videos to community about
struggles with use and abuse
|
Community support, personal understanding and
recovery support
|
Use
of drug enhancements
|
Run a support group for long term drug enhancement users. Create a
website or app about the negative effects of this drug for kids, give reports on books about
these drugs on a blog.
|
Personal experience with long term effects deters further use, prevention for future generations
|
Technology adds to constructive alternatives to consequences and tracking of positive behaviors. All volunteer work can be tracked by GPS and taking photos on Snapchat, then sending them to a caseworker, athletic organization, or parole officer. This prevents people from hiring other people to go for them. Many other ways of If you have any additions, please place them in the comments section or suggest them on websites of owners, athletic organizations, or sponsor pages. Everyone can be proactive on any level. If we all acted on one of these, violence would be addressed through proactive means in sports. #athletesaccountable
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