Gymnastics news...Thoughts? (Don Peters)

[TexasRose]

I've had some experience in this area before- I'm an RN. I actually did an epidemiology study on this type of abuse. There are some surprisingly simple ways to protect our kids. One way is to teach your child the proper term for their body parts. This seems simple but is very important. If an abuse does happen and is investigated the child will be asked what happened. They need to be able to describe it with proper anatomical terms. If they cannot the defense attorney can argue and wins very often. So teach your kids their anatomy. Also teach them about the aspects of good touch and bad touch. There are videos available for this as well. My DD knows that it's ok to get an occasional hug from her teacher but that if it lasts longer than 3 seconds it's "bad". If we don't tell the kids what is acceptable they won't recognize something that is unacceptable. So sit down and have a frank discussion with your kids about touching. My mom is a school teacher and they are actually only allowed to hug their students from the side, no frontal hugs. Maybe tell you kids that only side hugs from coaches are ok- or use the 3 second rule like we do. They also cannot have children older than 5 sit on their laps at all or ever.

For the little ones a very common sign of this type of abuse is frequent urinary tract infections. So if you notice that your DD is having a lot of those it should raise a red flag (or she's just not wiping properly . If you notice your child is not doing as well in school or activities as she used to- investigate. Ask some hard questions. This is our job as parents. If you notice that your little one is playing with her barbie in a disturbing way- investigate. This is a very common presentation of this type of abuse. Sorry that most of these tips lean towards little ones- this is the population I have the most experience with.

 

[CoachGoofy]

Not a parent, but, I was a kid once and I care about a whole lot of kids now.

Part of why I coach is because teaching girls (well, mostly girls) to do these things is extraordinarily empowering. They learn immense body control and awareness. And that should be a powerful thing, right?

Part of using that control and awareness in an empowered manner is knowing not just what is OK, but knowing what's NOT ok, knowing that everyone knows it isn't ok, knowing that there are people you can tell if someone is doing something that is absolutely not OK, and knowing that there are people who will believe and support you if someone does something that's not ok.

And of course, some parents don't talk about it with their kids. I don't know if they think not knowing about it is protective or what, but some don't. And some kids are abused at home, so they almost certainly aren't getting the information that it's not just uncomfortable, but WRONG, and that it isn't their fault, but the fault of the person doing it. And those kids, even if they know what is happening is wrong, they may not have adults in their lives who they can tell.

Yeah. It's important that kids are informed. And it's important that they're listened to but that's kind of another topic...

 

[JBS]

I have added a poll to this thread...please vote on whether we should open this up for real conversation on the topic or not.

 

[gymdog]

My DD knows that it's ok to get an occasional hug from her teacher but that if it lasts longer than 3 seconds it's "bad".

I would generally agree but I'm a female coach and I work in developmental, so the kids are young and always clinging to me/jumping on me/etc. Probably sometimes longer than 3 seconds, and always in full view of everyone. I don't encourage it because it can be a distraction but I don't shove them away either because I think it is okay at this age. If I were male I'd be much more careful, just to be realistic.

 

[JBS]

Discussion on this topic will not continue at this time. As Owner/Founder of The Chalk Bucket I have decided it is not in the best interest of the site to proceed.

The Chalk Bucket trusts the national governing body of the sport of gymnastics in the USA...USA Gymnastics. We will await the outcome of their investigation and then discuss the re-opening this thread.

Please refer to the following posts:

http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/chalk-bucket/34741-gymnastics-news-thoughts-don-peters-4.html#post174231

[URL]http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/chalk-bucket/34741-gymnastics-news-thoughts-don-peters-4.html#post174253[/URL]

 

[JBS]

Please add these three articles to the list to be aware of...but not discuss yet. Please refer to the post above for and explaination.

Innocence lost, gymnasts struggle to turn the page | boger, gymnastics, gymnasts - News - The Orange County Register

An ‘overwhelming feeling of dread’ | abuse, boger, former - News - The Orange County Register

Sexual abuse by coaches underreported, experts say | coaches, sexual, abuse - The Orange County Register

 

[JBS]

This thread is open for discussion.

Has anyone heard anything new on this? Here is a link for you to look at...

:: USA Gymnastics :: Permanently Ineligible Members ::

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

This thread is open for discussion.

Has anyone heard anything new on this? Here is a link for you to look at...

:: USA Gymnastics :: Permanently Ineligible Members ::

I noticed there are 3 people mentioned to have been banned from BC gymnastics. I think it would help immensely if Canada and the US shared these types of lists and information. I wonder if Gymnastics Canada has such a list?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

actually, they do share. my recollection is that Canadian law does not allow the "list" to be published as our is. i think i remember that correctly and i'm pretty sure i'm not making that up.

Bog?

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

actually, they do share. my recollection is that Canadian law does not allow the "list" to be published as our is. i think i remember that correctly and i'm pretty sure i'm not making that up.

Bog?

I think you are probably correct. With our recent elections, I know there was a push by the conservatie party to allow publishing names of sex offenders but it is, as of yet, not in effect.

Since coaches in Canada (well Ontario at least that I know for sure) requires gymnastics coaches to be certified, I am wondering if a clear criminal background check is a requirement of the certification?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

i believe it is. Bog knows about this i'm sure.

 

[bogwoppit]

The good news is that in Canada you have to be certitified to coach gymnastics, which precludes predatory types from just opening a gym because they want to be near kids. In the USA this is all too easy. There are list of registered sex offenders and clubs get to check against those. I understand that there is a list and all clubs have to do is call when registering and paying for their coaches each year. You cannot coachin a club without training and registering, this ialso different in the USA where you can coach in a club without being registered by USAG. Predators can go wild with few restrictions.

There is no published list like USAG, at least none that I have ever seen or found, and I have looked hard. But I think our situation is quite different

 

[JBS]

This thread is fully OPEN for discussion:

Don Peters: 1984 US Olympic Coach Banned from USAG