Thugs In The Locker Room: Listen To The "Culture Of Silence"
"In The Washington Post, the sports columnist Sally Jenkins wrote about the swagger of young male athletes and the culture of silence that protects their thuggish locker-room behavior." --Maureen Dowd
The post by Maureen Dowd, titled, "The Dangerous Swagger" revisits the recent brutal murderof a young university woman, and zeroes in on the behavior of certain boys at Landon, an affluent private school in a Washington D.C. suburb, "where the sons of many prominent members of the community are sent to learn 'the code of character' and to learn 'to work together to eliminate all forms of disrespect'". Yet, the article really spreads its tentacles around much larger issues in our culture.Yes, Dowd reminds us that outward appearances along with money, private schools and privilege won't insulate our kids from bad behavior nor will it necessarily teach them good values. Boys "preying" on girls, boys bullying other boys, girls bullying girls - it's all the same twisted view on respect for others. (No denying there are degrees far worse than others but not the point of this post).
Dowd calls for a change in curriculum in the schools. Okay, we get that to a point. Some school leaders are extremely pro-active, beyond elaborate mission statements and honor codes. Yet, where are these affluent parents when it comes to guiding their sons as to appropriate behavior and attitudes toward girls? Do these boys have sisters? (The same point can be made for parents of girls and their behavior toward others, but again, another post