Privileged Athletes Part 2.

We see it everywhere these days professional athletes, celebrates, and millionaires getting special treatment because they are famous and have money, getting away with violent crimes while others (non-elite) are convicted of the same crimes. Although this topic isn't centered on the sport of snowboarding, I am still choosing to write on this topic because it hit close to home. Growing up in a snowboarding town I was able to witness the privileges that professional snowboarder and skiers would receive, and what they got away with.

In my experience with professional snowboarders and skiers they already have a cocky attitude and consider themselves about the law as I’m sure many professional athletes do, but when they are under the influences of alcohol they tend to take it too far and have cause a great deal of damage. I have experienced many professional athletes, trash hotel rooms, destroy houses at parties, steal snowboards & gear, and even raped one of my classmates in high school. Never being charged or held responsible for their actions, professional athletes’ pushed the limits even further the next time. My classmate never reported the rape. I'm not sure as to why she didn't press charges against him, and unfortunately he and his friends treated it like a joke because he was never charged for the rape, he never realized the consequences of his action and the affect it had on my classmate, leading him to believe that he was above the law.

This experience is just one of the many examples of professional athletes getting away with violent crimes. In the same book by Bergen, that I mentioned in my previous post about this same topic she states that in "our examination of 217 felony sexual assault complaints against athlete’s reveals that, compared with a national sample, athletes are more likely to be arrested and indicted. However, despite aggressive actions by law enforcement officials when charged with sexual assault these same athletes are far less likely to be convicted." The question then come up, who is responsible for these elite athletes getting let off the hook? If the police are doing their job and arresting them, why does society keep letting them get away with their crimes?

Its cases, such as the one with my classmate, professional athletes are committing violent crimes and getting away with them, which has lead to this blog post. It’s terrible that we as a society are almost willing to look the other way and let them get away with these crimes because of their influences in our society. Children looking up to these professional athletes thinking how they want to grow up and be just like them one day, we don't want them to see their favorite soccer play/ football player/ snowboarder go to jail for rape or other crimes; however, these athletes just like other citizens should be held responsible for their actions.