The NFL recently created a new 45-minute education program that will teach NFL teams the basics of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.
“For domestic violence, it means learning the signs of an unhealthy relationship, from control issues and jealousy that escalates into verbal and physical abuse. For sexual assault, it means explaining consent, and ways to tell if someone is incapacitated by alcohol or drugs.
The goal is to create a baseline knowledge and an understanding that league employees, and especially its players, must hold each other accountable to prevent future family violence or sexual assault incidents.”
Each NFL team will complete the education program by the end of the season and the program will be made available to the players’ families and other staff later. While this is going on, NFL officials and their group of domestic violence advisors are working on revising the personal conduct policy and creating a formalized domestic violence training program.
Glenn’s advice to the NFL, should the league call and ask for it, would be to make sure the results of the training programs are evaluated at one, two and three-year intervals.
“What have been the outcomes and consequences of this training, positive or negative. Have they really made a difference? Because I really am concerned that there will be the impression or the thought that they can do this once and they will have arrived,” Glenn said. “It will take time to change a culture. They won’t know that if they let it go, and if they don’t take a look back.”
A quarter of the NFL’s teams have already received the education program.
Source: USATodaySports