Train young sportsmen in moral values
FEW people will congratulate Paddy Jackson for his belated act of contrition. On Friday, the 26-year-old Ireland and Ulster rugby player, issued a statement saying that he apologises unreservedly for ‘engaging in a WhatsApp group chat which was degrading and offensive’. He also expressed shame for the fact that ‘a young woman who was a visitor to my home left in a distressed state’.
Those who consider this too little, too late, are fully justified. After all, in the immediate wake of the trial that led to his acquittal, Jackson expressed no such contrition. Indeed, in a statement read by his solicitor outside court, it was asserted that Jackson’s ‘very status as a famous sportsman’ was the reason for his prosecution.
The subsequent public backlash against Jackson and his co-accused, Stuart Olding, signifies a widespread level of disgust at their behaviour. Jackson’s apology may well be regarded as a cynical ploy to resurrect his floundering international career. He and Olding remain suspended pending the outcome of an inquiry by the IRFU and Ulster Rugby.
An apology, however belated, is better than no apology. It is also noteworthy that Jackson ‘resolutely committed’ himself to returning to the ‘values that were such an integral part of my upbringing, the most important of which is respect’. This begs the question – why aren’t young sportsmen, who serve as role models, educated in moral values such as respect, decency and honour?
What the Belfast rape case clearly illustrates, is that sporting organisations have singularly failed to instil those crucial values in their young stars. This must change if Irish sport is to redeem its good name.
This is not a problem exclusively associated with sport. It is a problem that runs throughout Irish society – especially when young men view online pornography as the standard by which they should treat women. Unless we can fundamentally change how young men view women, behaviour like that of Paddy Jackson will become commonplace. In sum, without respect the battle for equality is already lost.