Coaching Boys into Men and the Rape Trial

I learned recently that the 16-year old who was found guilty on 15 felony counts for his part in the rape of a South Marion woman on July 31 was a promising basketball player.

Apparently there is a Facebook page that showed him in his basketball uniform.

My heart goes out to anyone connected to this young man who is now facing years behind bars because of missed lessons around appropriate behavior. It is too bad that messages about respect, healthy relationships and boundaries apparently weren’t conveyed enough to him.

Again, while some may say, he was only 15, and we shouldn’t expect him to know how to stop himself, that is not negotiable in my mind.

My reason for even commenting, or writing about this, is because of a program I am imploring all high school and even middle school coaching programs to adopt and implement immediately.

This is not a new program. It is a program that I first learned about years ago. It recently received much nationwide attention after all the domestic violence cases surrounding the NFL.

It is a program in fact that will be implemented at Mississinewa High School with all their boys’ athletic programs this school year.

It is called Coaching Boys into Men and is available by download or order at Futures Without Violence’s website by clicking here.

For any school that wants to receive copies of the materials and has a difficult time accessing them, please contact me and I will assist in any way I can. This program has been implemented successfully for many years in Southern Indiana where a peer of mine at the Crisis Connection in Jasper works.

It is so critical that boys and girls know what a healthy relationship is and how to respect one another. I am hopeful that if we can get all of the school corporations in Grant County to adopt the Coaching Boys into Men curriculum we can begin to see a shift in culture among our youth.

Again, I can’t state enough how important conversations about respect, boundaries and healthy relationships are if we are going to stop domestic violence in our community and our homes.

I see a lot of positive programming taking hold in Grant County, and I am excited for what else can be done if we just work together and believe that we can do this.

So, the next time you Facebook, tweet or post something on one of your various social media sites, please do your part to encourage positive relationships and the adoption of programming such as Coaching Boys Into Men at your respective school corporation.

I don’t want to hear or read about another promising local athlete whose life has been tragically ruined because there wasn’t enough conversation about respect.

For additional information about this or anything to do with respect and healthy relationships contact me at lwilk@famservices.com or by phone at 662-9971 ext. 123