The Danvers MA Hockey Team Debacle…..If Ever There Was a Time….
The Danvers Hockey Team Behaviors
Along with many others, I have been reading about the abusive and harassing culture of the boy’s hockey team in Danvers MA. In addition to horrific team behaviors (some of the team?), there was what can only be described as a massive cover-up. Indeed, it has been months and months since the incidents were initially reported and yet the issues have only come to light (partial light) recently. From many accounts, it appears that the players proceeded in ways that were homophobic and racist and offensive. The hockey team behavior (of some percentage of the members) represented hazing and building “team” ethos at its worst.
And, we can ask: Where were the grownups in the room? Did they sanction the behavior or were they totally unknowing? (One coach apparently turned on the lights and then when asked, turned them off as offensive conduct was afoot.) And, surely, within a high school, rumors abound and the activities (which had student created names) were mentioned in at least several yearbook entries of graduating seniors. Add to this: when this continuous behavior exists within one team, it is likely not isolated. Think about this phrase: when there’s smoke….
For those interested in a detailed description of the Danvers hockey situation, peruse this article. It makes you sick even if it turns out to be only partially true. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/11/06/sports/danvers-fights-efforts-expose-high-school-hockey-teams-alleged-misconduct/?s_campaign=breakingnews:newsletter.
Add to the above that there was a recent incident at a Danvers Middle School. That suggests that how we think about all this cannot be limited to the high school hockey team and its culture. This goes wider and deeper, not to speak about the coverup of the high school team’s behavior.
https://www.wcvb.com/article/danvers-investigating-case-of-hate-graffiti/38201887
Now What?
Folks are rightly complaining about the team culture and the coverup. Many parents/guardians and community members are troubled. One assumes there are educators in the Danvers system who are struggling to comprehend the extent of the wrongdoing. Other students, particularly those within the groups targeted at all levels across the Danvers school system, are wondering if and how they navigate forward within their schools.
All valid concerns. And here is a short list of things that need to happen now. As in NOW.
(1) I think it is time for outside people, with expertise in this arena, to be hired to address this crisis in all its dimensions. Many crisis managers have experience is educational incidents of this sort, and these folks need to be hired — not to hide the crisis but to address it and share strategies for moving forward. The investigation starts with the boys hockey team but does not end there for sure. And be careful in hiring — one wants firms with expertise in high school (or perhaps collegiate) athletic culture. Now we need to spend time in the Elementary and Middle Schools too.
(2) There need to be experienced counselors available to all students, families and educators within the Danvers school district who can both meet with individuals and with groups. Now is the time for transparency. These can be counselors within the Danvers system or outsiders with expertise in trauma and harassment and discrimination. Experience in these fields in particular is key.
(3) Speaking of transparency, there needs to be an HR investigation of who within the Danvers system was “in the know.” Coaches? Players? Athletic Director? Assistant Principals? Faculty in charge of the Yearbook? The list is long.
(4) Consideration needs to be given to how to address remediation and how the students on the team who participated in the offensive (and illegal) conduct should be reprimanded and disciplined — in ways the message loudly about what behavior is and is not acceptable and that there are consequences for treating others badly.
Now, this issue extends beyond current students. Might students who graduated in the last two years (or longer) who are now in college be included — say, by notifying their colleges of the current findings and suggesting that their current college coaches address these students and determine how best to deal with their earlier behavior.
Ask too how the schools approaches parents of both the offending athletes and the athletes affected and all the other students affected.
(5) There needs to be a huge increase in communication — and the School Board and Superintendent’s office needs to step it up in terms of honest, timely information and efforts to tamp down inaccuracies. A crisis team can help with this but the key here is that trust has been eroded, and it needs to be restored. And, honesty is a step in that direction. A simple apology is insufficient. There needs to be an ongoing strategy for moving forward, not a one-off event.
(6) It is in the context of the last point that I want to suggest that if ever there were a time for “popup courses,” that time is now. What are pop-up courses? I have written about them for some period of time and they are particularly useful in the context of controversial events that need to be processed by students. The point of these courses is that they give students access to a vocabulary and approach for approaching and talking about and reflecting on difficult issues.
For example. there could be a popup course on how other schools have addressed crises involving sexual assault, harassment, racial discrimination and unacceptable athletic culture. Through the evaluation of how other institutions have handled such situations, one can reflect on how these inform that Danvers situation. So, without addressing the Danvers debacle directly, this gives students an architecture within which to think about and process what is happening in their own back yard.
Think St. Paul’s School fiasco. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/st-pauls-school-debacle-how-can-we-change-campus-culture-karen-gross/. Think about Penn State: https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2017/03/30/presidents-should-learn-conviction-penn-states-former-president-essay.
There could also be a popup course on crisis management and leading in a time of crisis. That would give students a chance to think about how institutions and their leadership can and should address wrongs that have occurred or crises that have arisen. Those could include harassment but also suicide and illness and death on campuses. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/our-leaders-wimpy-scared-karen-gross/. https://karengrossedu.medium.com/what-does-role-modeling-mean-in-todays-pandemic-world-d0004c6bd863.
Students can be given articles to read. They can be given reports from other investigations. The courses can run for a few hours or for a couple hours on several days. They can be for credit or non-credit. They can be lead, ideally, by current Danvers faculty and staff. An outsider could come in but popups are way better when internal strength is brought to bear.
Pop-up courses work for all age levels and can be tailored to the ages and stages of development. Surely, in light of recent racism and homophobic and anti-Semitic graffiti at the Middle School, there can be pop-ups there too. There need to be many such popups!
Talk is Cheap
The old saw about talk being cheap has applicability here. Those within the Danvers School System need to act — and the above list is just the start of a longer list of items they need to accomplish to resolve the behaviors of their hockey team and their coverup.
We can lament the student behavior. We can lament the absence of adult presence. We can lament the coverup.
But, all the lamenting in the world will not enable the school and those within it to move forward in healthy ways. That requires action and Danvers can learn from other schools with similar issues. But, this is clear: now is the time to act.
If we want to raise a generation of students that understands and acts with respect, decency, non-discrimination and honesty, we need to role model that behavior. The Danvers School System can start by doing that in how they deal with the current hockey debacle and cover up. They have a window here. Time to step through that window while it is open and show how quality adults address wrongs on many levels.
Students, parents and the community deserve nothing less.
