The following is an open letter to Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League. It follows several recent news reports on players’ alleged physical abuse of their wives and children, criticism leveled at Goodell following the incidences and the author’s observations on the cycle of reported violence. The author is a former San Diego resident.
Mr. Goodell:
Many are asking you to step down. I am asking you to step up.
As a registered nurse and nurse educator, I observe that we teach our nurses how to spot abuse in our children, in our women and in our elderly. We have screening tools to document such incidences. As nurses, we report this to social services and put a Band-aid on our patients and send them back to the environment where they were abused – but things never change. They only escalate.
It is important to know how violence and neglect begins. Take a few minutes from your hectic schedule and review the eye-opening “The Six Core Strengths of Healthy Childhood Development,” by Bruce Perry, M.D. Note that the theory starts in infancy, with “self-regulation,” and then progresses when children take their feelings to school. Why are some children schoolyard bullies, who then grow up and become our “children with weapons”? There is a difference between these children and others. They have no remorse for their actions. They have no bad feelings for hurting others. They have no regret for killing. Bullying escalates, and school shootings heighten. Our children are learning that power is how we make a difference. Our football players must be powerful to succeed. Power seeps into our law-enforcement with police brutality. Power seeps into nursing homes where the clients are taken advantage of because of their frailty. Power seeps into our nannies and babysitters where the children are vulnerable because of their size.
We must start in the beginning. We cannot start in the middle. The middle is too late – the behavior is so ingrained.
You have the staff to create a campaign against violence. You have the financial resources to make it nationwide. You have the arena to speak up. You have the sponsors to support the campaign. You can make a difference.
Jane Carsrud
Costa Mesa, Calif.