Reported hazing incident involving Damascus High School JV Football team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do we think that the athletic department was responsible in any way? What should they have done differently if they did not know that this was happening. There is more to this story if this was being taped and posted online.

These poor children. This is so shocking and sad. I am so heartbroken that this kind of thing can happen.

The coaches for my kids, including football, make it clear to both the students and the parents, that hazing will not be tolerated on any level. This is done in August concurrent with the pre-season workouts. Leadership starts at the top.

At our school, the coaches were the perpetrators who mistreated students. My child was traumatized, reported to the principal and athletic director but the school and MCPS did remove the coaches. MCPS said the coaches would be retrained and swept the problem under the rug.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do we think that the athletic department was responsible in any way? What should they have done differently if they did not know that this was happening. There is more to this story if this was being taped and posted online.

These poor children. This is so shocking and sad. I am so heartbroken that this kind of thing can happen.

The coaches for my kids, including football, make it clear to both the students and the parents, that hazing will not be tolerated on any level. This is done in August concurrent with the pre-season workouts. Leadership starts at the top.

At our school, the coaches were the perpetrators who mistreated students. My child was traumatized, reported to the principal and athletic director but the school and MCPS did remove the coaches. MCPS said the coaches would be retrained and swept the problem under the rug.

Sorry - typo. MCPS did NOT remove the coaches. They are still coaches in the county today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ring leader was expelled from Clarksburg.

If he was expelled from one pubic high school, then why was he at another public high school? What was the offense he was expelled for at Clarksburg?

Not that poster. But I do know of one situation where a Wootton student was expelled for drugs and he transferred to Clarksburg. So they are school hopping for some reason.

sheinbein was expelled from wootton and sent to Kennedy,

Wow. I did not know this was occurring. I thought when a student is expelled, he/she is expelled from all MCPS schools. There are alternative programs or home services to educate a child in those cases. These programs might be more expensive than the traditional school setting. How is passing the trash from one school to another protecting students from violence?

Where I went to school, if a student was expelled they could not attend another school in the district. They had to go to an alternative school or another city. They were banned. Why does MCPS let expelled students transfer to another school in the same district? What was the point of expelling them if they can just go to another school? MCPS continues to look bad.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t read the whole thread but sexual assault or rape are not “hazing” and it’s rodiculous for the press to call it that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was no rape at Rockville
There was a rape at RM and the rapist did not go to jail.

Vote out all judges and and the states attorney needs to go.

What are you talking about?
https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/richard-montgomery-high-security-chief-sentenced-to-18-months-for-sexual-abuse-of-student/

20 years, all suspended except 18 f'ing months... time served. That means he did not go to jail.

There is nothing in that article about how much time he had served pre-trial and it is very uncommon for someone to serve 18 mos before pleading guilty. He absolutely did go to jail - for 18 mos if not more (it is actually fairly common for defendants to waive credit for time served in exchange for the 18 mos sentence which keeps them in the Montgomery County jail)

He was let out onbond. He raped again and then bond was revoked so he was in jail until trial.

He was given time served.

Either way 18 months is a pathetic sentence. The St. E's rapist was given 3 years and MD has ridiculously low guidelines for jail time for rape.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read the whole thread but sexual assault or rape are not “hazing” and it’s rodiculous for the press to call it that.

MCPS is using the legal definition of hazing in which sexual assault can be the specific type of hazing. MCPS athletics falls under the MPSSAA and the NFHS organizations for high school athletics. The NFHS defines hazing as any humiliating or dangerous activity expected of a student to belong to a group, regardless of his or her willingness to participate.

http://www.nfhs.org/articles/hazing-bullying-prevention-collaborative-effort-for-schools-communities/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read the whole thread but sexual assault or rape are not “hazing” and it’s rodiculous for the press to call it that.

MCPS is using the legal definition of hazing in which sexual assault can be the specific type of hazing. MCPS athletics falls under the MPSSAA and the NFHS organizations for high school athletics. The NFHS defines hazing as any humiliating or dangerous activity expected of a student to belong to a group, regardless of his or her willingness to participate.

http://www.nfhs.org/articles/hazing-bullying-prevention-collaborative-effort-for-schools-communities/

Just read Dr. Smith's letter and have to agree it falls short. Parents need to hear a voice of utter condemnation of this type of behavior. And some action steps. So many cries for help in the last few months and then... this. They need to do some housecleaning to say the least.

[Anonymous]

According to the NFHS (http://www.nfhs.org/articles/hazing-bullying-prevention-collaborative-effort-for-schools-communities/):

“A lot of times when it comes to bullying, kids don’t want to come in there and tell on somebody because they’re afraid of the possible repercussions,” Ballard said. “Being able to work with your staff and student body to put those things in place so that they have a reporting mechanism gives you the opportunity to deal with it.”

This is where MCPS Athletics is falling short. What is the mechanism for reporting bullying, hazing, and sexual assault in MCPS? Are these 3 different processes or one because the Damascus victims are victims of all 3 of these things. There is no streamlined process to report in which victims are protected from retaliation.

For every victim that comes forward, realize there are countless of others that were too afraid or ashamed to report. “48 percent of students who belong to groups reported being subjected to hazing activities. Forty-three percent reported being subjected to humiliating activities and 30 percent reported performing potentially illegal acts as part of their initiation.”
MCPS uses this silence to their advantage to cover up problems instead of addressing them when a victim is brave enough to report a fellow student or coach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read the whole thread but sexual assault or rape are not “hazing” and it’s rodiculous for the press to call it that.

MCPS is using the legal definition of hazing in which sexual assault can be the specific type of hazing. MCPS athletics falls under the MPSSAA and the NFHS organizations for high school athletics. The NFHS defines hazing as any humiliating or dangerous activity expected of a student to belong to a group, regardless of his or her willingness to participate.

http://www.nfhs.org/articles/hazing-bullying-prevention-collaborative-effort-for-schools-communities/

Just read Dr. Smith's letter and have to agree it falls short. Parents need to hear a voice of utter condemnation of this type of behavior. And some action steps. So many cries for help in the last few months and then... this. They need to do some housecleaning to say the least.

+1 Start with Jeff Sullivan the MCPS Systems Wide Athletic Director. He has ignored serious problems including keeping bad coaches and athletic directors in place who promote bad behavior within teams. He is invisible when a problem is reported at a school. The move on to the bad coaches and bad school athletic directors who create an atmosphere where abuse is known to occur.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was no rape at Rockville
There was a rape at RM and the rapist did not go to jail.

Vote out all judges and and the states attorney needs to go.

What are you talking about?
https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/richard-montgomery-high-security-chief-sentenced-to-18-months-for-sexual-abuse-of-student/

20 years, all suspended except 18 f'ing months... time served. That means he did not go to jail.

There is nothing in that article about how much time he had served pre-trial and it is very uncommon for someone to serve 18 mos before pleading guilty. He absolutely did go to jail - for 18 mos if not more (it is actually fairly common for defendants to waive credit for time served in exchange for the 18 mos sentence which keeps them in the Montgomery County jail)

He was let out onbond. He raped again and then bond was revoked so he was in jail until trial.

He was given time served.

Either way 18 months is a pathetic sentence. The St. E's rapist was given 3 years and MD has ridiculously low guidelines for jail time for rape.

I agree, but I don't blame MCPS for that -- that's the court system.

What I do blame MCPS for is not doing a background check in the first place. He got in trouble when he was in NYC for assaulting a stripper -- he was arrested but not convicted. It was in the New York Times. This apparently didn't come up in his MCPS background check. They are so incompetent they didn't even Google his name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pat O'Neill has done more for kids in this county than you ever will, and in a good way. As for being a bully, your imagination is running away from reality.

This was a heinous act. And, they are kids. It is not up to MCPS what happens to these kids, it is up to the MoCo police and justice system. It is not up to anyone here to be judge and jury. Recall the Rockville HS case, which when the FACTS came out, it turned out NOT to be rape (not saying this is the case here, just that we do not know all the facts)

The Board is absolutely at fault in the Rockville case, for being silent.

Whether it was rape or consensual, it showed that the security set-up at the high school was such that it was possible this could happen. Parents were rightfully concerned about the security at their own child's schools. A good Board would have at least not remained silent on the general security situation at MCPS. Maybe they could have said they're reviewing security at all MCPS schools, or putting in new policies or whatever. Instead, they said nothing. That's incompetence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read the whole thread but sexual assault or rape are not “hazing” and it’s rodiculous for the press to call it that.

MCPS is using the legal definition of hazing in which sexual assault can be the specific type of hazing. MCPS athletics falls under the MPSSAA and the NFHS organizations for high school athletics. The NFHS defines hazing as any humiliating or dangerous activity expected of a student to belong to a group, regardless of his or her willingness to participate.

http://www.nfhs.org/articles/hazing-bullying-prevention-collaborative-effort-for-schools-communities/

Just read Dr. Smith's letter and have to agree it falls short. Parents need to hear a voice of utter condemnation of this type of behavior. And some action steps. So many cries for help in the last few months and then... this. They need to do some housecleaning to say the least.

+1 Start with Jeff Sullivan the MCPS Systems Wide Athletic Director. He has ignored serious problems including keeping bad coaches and athletic directors in place who promote bad behavior within teams. He is invisible when a problem is reported at a school. The move on to the bad coaches and bad school athletic directors who create an atmosphere where abuse is known to occur.

+50 This is absolutely the case for many of the AD"s and Coaches. The AD's excuse poor behavior as "a coaching style"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read the whole thread but sexual assault or rape are not “hazing” and it’s rodiculous for the press to call it that.

MCPS is using the legal definition of hazing in which sexual assault can be the specific type of hazing. MCPS athletics falls under the MPSSAA and the NFHS organizations for high school athletics. The NFHS defines hazing as any humiliating or dangerous activity expected of a student to belong to a group, regardless of his or her willingness to participate.

http://www.nfhs.org/articles/hazing-bullying-prevention-collaborative-effort-for-schools-communities/

Just read Dr. Smith's letter and have to agree it falls short. Parents need to hear a voice of utter condemnation of this type of behavior. And some action steps. So many cries for help in the last few months and then... this. They need to do some housecleaning to say the least.

+1 Start with Jeff Sullivan the MCPS Systems Wide Athletic Director. He has ignored serious problems including keeping bad coaches and athletic directors in place who promote bad behavior within teams. He is invisible when a problem is reported at a school. The move on to the bad coaches and bad school athletic directors who create an atmosphere where abuse is known to occur.

+50 This is absolutely the case for many of the AD"s and Coaches. The AD's excuse poor behavior as "a coaching style"

Please report the athletic director along with the coach in writing to your school principal and cc the school director. If you are afraid of repercussions, please contact the MCCPTA Health and Safety Committee and they can help keep your anonymity. You can also report on the Safe Schools MD Anonymous Tip Line 833-MD-B-SAFE or download the free app to your phone: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/mainstory/story/610966/Safe-Schools-MD/

The only way change will happen is for all[b] students and parents to report problems when they know there is a problem. If you reported to MCPS and nothing happened, contact the MCCPTA so they can help followup and find out where the ball was dropped. Also, there has been great turnover at many of the schools so if you have a new principal or a new director, please resend your original email or contact them with details as follow up. They might not know of a past offense that was previously reported and they might be inclined to do something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ring leader was expelled from Clarksburg.

If he was expelled from one pubic high school, then why was he at another public high school? What was the offense he was expelled for at Clarksburg?

Not that poster. But I do know of one situation where a Wootton student was expelled for drugs and he transferred to Clarksburg. So they are school hopping for some reason.

sheinbein was expelled from wootton and sent to Kennedy,

Wow. I did not know this was occurring. I thought when a student is expelled, he/she is expelled from all MCPS schools. There are alternative programs or home services to educate a child in those cases. These programs might be more expensive than the traditional school setting. How is passing the trash from one school to another protecting students from violence?

Where I went to school, if a student was expelled they could not attend another school in the district. They had to go to an alternative school or another city. They were banned. Why does MCPS let expelled students transfer to another school in the same district? What was the point of expelling them if they can just go to another school? MCPS continues to look bad.

Have you read the MCPS Student Code of Conduct. It is difficult to "expel" a student for good. Usually it is for 45 days in Blair Ewing and then they are back or sent to another MCPS school. Many principals' hands are tied when it comes down to suspensions/expulsions. Many students are recommended for 10 days suspension and recommendation for expulsion, but unless there was prior interventions in place, the student returns to the school.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/students/rights/1182%2018_2018_2019_STUDENT_Code%20of%20Conduct_WEB.pd

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was no rape at Rockville
There was a rape at RM and the rapist did not go to jail.

Vote out all judges and and the states attorney needs to go.

What are you talking about?
https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/richard-montgomery-high-security-chief-sentenced-to-18-months-for-sexual-abuse-of-student/

20 years, all suspended except 18 f'ing months... time served. That means he did not go to jail.

There is nothing in that article about how much time he had served pre-trial and it is very uncommon for someone to serve 18 mos before pleading guilty. He absolutely did go to jail - for 18 mos if not more (it is actually fairly common for defendants to waive credit for time served in exchange for the 18 mos sentence which keeps them in the Montgomery County jail)

He was let out onbond. He raped again and then bond was revoked so he was in jail until trial.

He was given time served.

Either way 18 months is a pathetic sentence. The St. E's rapist was given 3 years and MD has ridiculously low guidelines for jail time for rape.

I agree, but I don't blame MCPS for that -- that's the court system.

What I do blame MCPS for is not doing a background check in the first place. He got in trouble when he was in NYC for assaulting a stripper -- he was arrested but not convicted. It was in the New York Times. This apparently didn't come up in his MCPS background check. They are so incompetent they didn't even Google his name.

Refusing to hire someone based on an arrest alone is a really problematic thing to do. Some states have even banned it in recognition that many innocent people - particularly minorities - are blocked from getting jobs unjustly. Let's not forget there is a huge difference between an arrest and a conviction.