The Sexual Misconduct Underage Girls In The Swimming Teams Undergo Under Their Coaches - Movie Review Example

Reaction paper Affiliation: The video discusses the sexual misconduct underage girls in the swimming teams undergo under their coaches. The coaches take the vulnerability and innocence of these girls and exploit them sexually to his advantage. The girls mentioned in the video are hard workers with the hope of joining Olympic teams or winning Olympic Games for scholarship. They therefore rely heavily on their coaches to assist them be able to fulfill that dream and have a better higher education (Ross, 2010). The coaches see the girls as easy prey and spread their sexual tentacles to them. They threaten them to ensure that word of their sexual misconduct does not reach adults. Their sexual misconduct is a slow process that starts with simple talks and then advances to caressing. This is followed by kissing and later fondling. Some stop at this point but some coaches simply break the limit. They advance to deep kissing and later full sexual intercourse (Ross, 2010). They do not care that these are minors they are dealing with which is not only legally unacceptable but it is morally and ethically inappropriate. They do not care about the lives of the young girls they are messing around with nor do they care about the life long trauma the girls will get as a result of guilt and harboring secrets. All they care about are their own sexual gratification and when discovered, they quickly relocate to another state and continue the same cycle. The other key point raised is the fact that the US swimming association does not take the issue seriously. It defends their coaches and lets them back on the job after suspension or simply with a warning. They also fail to conduct proper background checks on a coach before being hired and they simply rely on official criminal records. Many coaches who are sexual molesters and have gotten away with it still roam around and seek similar jobs elsewhere and hunt for new preys to sexually molest (Crouse, 2013). One of the key issues in this video is trust. Girls and parent have trusted the coach with all their might to make them succeed in their passion and talent and have a better swimming career only for this trust to be crumbled. The girls look up to their coach and follow everything they are told diligently without raising questions. The fact that they are minors makes them naïve and innocent at the same time. They are also too timid to raise an alarm on the coach. One thing that caught my attention is what was said about the parents also having participated greatly to their girls being sexually molested by their coaches. This is true to some extent even though it does not apply to all parents. Parents apply so much pressure of their girls in the swimming team to do all they can to make it to the Olympics or even in order to win a scholarship. Failure is unacceptable to these parents. When such girls are sexually molested by their coaches and threatened to be removed from the swimming team, they keep their mouths shut and suffer in silence. The other key issue even though it was not openly labeled is that of statutory rape. Some of the girls interviewed in the different cases of coaches all over the US who have sexually abused them indicated they have sexual intercourse. These girls were all under 18 years and actually majority ranged between 13-16 years meaning they were all minors. For the coaches to have sexual intercourse with them, then it qualifies as statutory rape according to law. The coaches that are just suspended for such sexual misconduct are not even registered anywhere as sex offenders and neither does their record indicate it as a serious matter. This is no wonder they still get jobs in other schools as swimming coach and continue their behavior as well without any questions being raised. Personally this video has shocked me. I have never imagined that coaches who are second parents to the students and who are supposed to look out for them turn against them. They lead to the young girls who have been molested to have psychological problem from mistrusting older male in their life to having problems forming relationships with the opposite sex in the future. The self-esteem and confidence of the girls in their ability as swimmers is somehow shattered as they second guess themselves. With the stress of harboring secrets about the sexual molestation, they start having difficulties with their performance whether it is in the swimming or in the other classes as well. Their social life is also shattered as they withdraw from the other girls in the swimming team due to fear as well as guilt. The isolation only adds to the stress and if this is not addressed quickly, depression may be the next on line. They are minor and cannot be able to think clearly for themselves. Majority have received sheltering from their parents and guardians and feel they have let them down by allowing themselves to be sexually molested. The US swimming association should realize that by refusal to take on cases and investigate complaints about the sexual misconduct of their coaches, they are destroying the future of the girls swimming team nationally and internationally as well. What parents will do is that if they raise complaints without any substantial action being taken, they will withdraw their girls from the swimming teams and soon there will not be any girls participating in swimming and this is not a good culture and is an indication of gender inequality. The background checks performed by the US Swimming association have been proved to be highly inadequate and focusing on only the government criminal records (Ross, 2010). Most of the sexual misconduct goes unreported based on the fact that the coaches disappear as soon as the matter is made public. The lack of a perpetrator leads to lack of a case. However, this problem can be avoided entirely. Before hiring of any coach in a swimming team, thorough background checks including the former place of work and family background records should be unearthed. These records will indicate the reason for leaving previous employment and whether the coach should be hired or not. References Ross, B. (2010, April 10th). Coaches secrets. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/inside-usa-swimming-secrets-betrayal-10337133 Ross, B. (2010, April 10th). Sexual misconduct in the US swimming. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/sexual-misconduct-us-swimming-10337006 Read More