After a behavioral line is crossed, it may seem hard to go back. But, when victims speak up and administration finds a way to make a change, going back can happen.

For most people, specifically high school students, inappropriate comments and behavior from adults are often brushed away as, “weird,” or just something that has to be dealt with. Many teenagers don’t know how to decide what is appropriate behavior with adults, and when it is right to speak up.

Such inappropriate behavior is often easier ignored and brushed off as, “just something to be dealt with,” rather than taken seriously, but it should not be seen that way. Students should not fear what will happen when they report this behavior.

Student athletes often have to face this grey area more than others. Between teammates, coaches and athletic trainers, there are more opportunities for discomfort. This includes athletes at MCHS.

But, even when it seems like unprofessional behavior is something that will eventually be delt with, when people speak up, a serious change can happen.

As of December, an MCHS athletic trainer is no longer contracted to work for the school’s athletic program. When students reported the trainor’s inappropriate behavior made them uncomfortable, administrators listened and took action to make MCHS safer.

This trainer was contracted to work at MCHS through Northwestern Medicine for over 10 years. Because this trainer’s services were provided by Northwestern Medicine, his employment status at MCHS and elsewhere has been ultimately decided by Northwestern’s directors.

MCHS’s Athletic Director Chris Madson believes it is his responsibility to make sure students are feeling safe as athletes, especially when they don’t always feel like speaking up.

“[I] have to go to the events, [I] have to go to practices,” Madson says, “just pulling a kid here and there, left and right, just kind of understanding where they’re at.”

Madson understands that all of the athletics at MCHS are very widespread, and that is why he makes sure to let employees and coaches know to speak up if they notice something is off.

“I always try to approach [an issue] with curiosity more than judgement,” Madson says, “and then try to put the pieces together, no different than evidence in a case, and try to figure it out … we figure out anything we can do better or how to improve the situation, and just go from there.”

Aside from the facts, the most important thing to consider is how student athletes felt after their experiences. 

“From my experience with (the trainer),” says an MCHS athlete, who chose to remain anonymous for this story, “he has made extremely inappropriate comments about my [breasts] and body, and has always called me babygirl … whenever he was at practice he was always looking at my butt when I would go get my water, and other athletes have told me about this.”

Creepy comments do more than just make students uncomfortable, though, they can affect how students perform athletically. 

“Whenever I got injured,” the source says, “I always was too scared to go to the trainer and worrying about what [the trainer] would say, so I always tried getting out of getting checked out, because he was the trainer.”

Many athletes witnessed the comments and inappropriate behavior, but were scared to say anything. Many even steered away from expressing their discomfort with their teammates or coaches.

According to the athlete, they tried speaking to their coach, but there didn’t seem to be any outcome to the conversation. “I tried to encourage others to talk to Madson,” they add. “I know I wish I just talked to Madson.”

Speaking up should seem obvious but, in the moment, many factors contribute to why teenagers are afraid to speak up.

“I feel like it is hard for athletes to speak out about these types of things because they are genuinely scared of what might happen,” the anonymous source continues, “or scared that it was the wrong thing to say or do.”

“In my experience,” they add, “I thought telling my coach was enough and even doing that I was scared I was going to get my wording mixed up. It is a very serious and scary topic that some people don’t want to bring up because if you make the wrong accusations things can go very terribly for you.”

The fact is, though, people are entitled to their feelings and the process of grooming is something that is hard to identify by design.

For athletes, and teenagers in general, they often fear what will happen when they express their discomfort, especially if it involves people of higher levels of power, like adults or teachers. 

When a minor is taken advantage of by an adult, that is called grooming, grooming is defined as a process where a would-be abuser selects a victim and gains access to them through various methods.

“99% of all child sexual abuse involves sexual grooming,” childhood sexual abuse expert, Elizabeth Jeglic, says, “[grooming] is the manipulation of the child so that the abuse can be perpetrated without detection.” 

Jeglic believes that adults should be aware of the signs of grooming, so they can detect grooming and take action against it. Some of these signs include: doing activities alone with the minor, showing the minor favoritism, giving the minor compliments, asking the minor inappropriate questions and isolating the minor from peers and/or family members.

The steps of grooming can be identified if adults and teenagers know what to look for, but even then, for athletes the line may be even harder to identify, which is why no matter how small the concern may be, the most important job for the school is to listen and make sure all students feel comfortable.

One thing MCHS can do to make athletes more comfortable is hiring more female trainers since, worldwide, there are more female trainers than male. According to Career Explorer, 58% of athletic trainers are female, and 42% are male. 

For many athletes, seeing trainers is a daily activity, and many female athletes shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable while doing so. A trainer’s job is to make athletes feel physically comfortable, not emotionally uncomfortable. 

Hiring more female trainers would help make many athletes more comfortable, especially females, considering the trainer career field is predominantly female, this could be an easy solution.

Administration at MCHS wants to make the school a comfortable place for students to voice their concerns, so they can be dealt with and problems can be solved, much like this instance.

“There are hard things for students to come forth with at times,” Upper Campus Principal Gregory Eiserman says, “But, the message we want all students to know is that we’re here for you guys.”

As someone who has held many positions at MCHS, from teacher to administrator, Eiserman has learned that students don’t always come to administration with a problem until it boils over to something much larger.

Since teachers spend 45 minutes with students, they often are the first ones to notice or hear about issues involving students. Because of this, administrators make sure that the communication between teachers and admin is clear and easy.

“Hopefully, if students aren’t willing to advocate for themselves,” Upper Campus dean, Jordan Deener, says, “teachers overhear pretty much everything that goes on in the classroom.”

Deener says that at internal meetings administration reminds staff that if they aren’t sure who to talk to, “notify anyone, it could be a counselor, social worker, psychologist, administrator or anyone, just bring the conversation up. If it is something that gives you a feeling that isn’t right, or not appropriate, just bring it up.”

Although speaking up may be something that feels scary, especially for high schoolers, a change can happen when issues are brought up.

If you have experienced inappropriate behavior and comments from an adult, contact MCHS’s student services, including counselors and social workers so they can do their part in keeping the school a safe and comfortable place for all students.