Time to speak out, stop mistreatment of others

We are now hearing accusations about the Huntsville Junior High School basketball players sexually abusing other members of their team. As an old high school football coach and soldier, I feel somewhat guilty of witnessing some things much like this and I am ashamed that I did nothing to stop it.

Almost every school year we get reports of these awful club initiations in our colleges, universities and public schools. Too many of them result in a student’s death. Perhaps the Huntsville episode is so horrendous that it will cause an uprising to put an end to these practices.

Currently, there seems to be a great effort to sweep the Huntsville sexual abuse charges under the rug. There are those who feel that if the truth gets out it will tarnish our educational system’s reputation and Arkansas’ image. In past similar incidents elsewhere, the response has often just been that “boys will be boys” and all of this is part of the normal growing experience. If we do nothing and just let this pass, it will embolden other students to repeat these horrific acts.

In 1987, as officer-in-charge of medical services at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, I had to deal with the death of a young 2nd lieutenant. On a Saturday night some Army officers wanted to have some fun, so they grabbed the young lieutenant and laid him down on a table and poured triple sec down his throat. The poor kid probably never had an alcoholic drink in his life. The young man passed out.

We sent an ambulance, and he died the next day of alcoholic poisoning.

The event has haunted me ever since because as the second-highest ranking officer on the post staff I did nothing. I should have gotten with the post commander and formulated a post policy to prevent a thing like that from ever happening again. All I did do and what I always regretted having to do was to telephone the young soldier’s mother and tell her that her son died not in the hands of the enemy, but by the hands of his peers.

In 1957, as president of the East Texas State Letterman’s Association, the tradition was that all new members of the organization had to carry a wooden paddle and allow all lettermen to take three licks to his back end. After a few poundings, the buttocks became bruised and black and blue. All ensuing hits became almost unbearable. With all the pain and injuries that one suffers as an athlete, it just doesn’t make sense to create unnecessary pain. Again, as president of the athletes, I should have at least made an attempt to stop such a tradition, but I didn’t.

It is time for our voices to be heard and put an end to the hazing and maltreatment of our peers.

JIM PARSONS

Bella Vista