DEAR EDITOR:

As an “OLDER (widowed) woman,” I am no longer subjected to “playing the games” often seemingly taken for granted in society, but I have lived long enough, and painfully experienced vicariously, the traumas faced by younger relatives, AND the enduring mental /

psychological harm imposed by violence inflicted on vulnerable, unsuspecting teens as well as adults.

Volunteering as a rape crisis telephone counselor, I received anonymous calls from a terrified stranger desperate for someone to talk to, but equally terrified of sharing her — or HIS — story, which was often life changing for the caller.

I watched helplessly as my 6-foot, beloved nephew crumbled in our arms after hitching a ride from a stranger who threatened what Ken could not even speak of … only convulsively crying in our arms, as his mother and I tried to comfort, soothe, and love him. I worked with battered women and their children — some of those children themselves abused — A REALITY few want to know about. The most tragic of these hideous stains on a nation priding itself on being “Christian,” is that ABUSING, and taking sexual advantage of a vulnerable person, MALE OR FEMALE, of ANY AGE, is a CRIME. The abuser may dismiss their selfish “pleasure” as mere play, UNLESS THEY THEMSELVES BECOME THE VICTIM.

Sexual assault is, tragically, not new in this country, but it is both an egregious sin AND A CRIME — a crime that is punishable by law in our court system. But NO punishment can restore the theft of a person’s sense of trust of others and sense of having been violated, mocked and “discarded.”

ANY school system that tolerates such behavior should NO LONGER be entitled to operate a sport if it CANNOT commit to protecting EVERY athlete on any of its teams from the very kind of harm ANY PARENT would provide their child on a vacation, a family camping trip or in their own home. SCHOOL SPORTS and team leadership have a duty of protection as well as leadership: “loco parentis” (if I remember my Latin correctly).

CAROL NELSON BURNS, Ph.D.

Sebring