Illinois high schools take hard line against hate speech at sporting events
The Illinois High School Association Board of Directors has taken a step it says will protect student athletes from racially-tinged language and other hate speech.
The IHSA Hate Speech and Harassment Policy was approved by the board during its August meeting. It allows game officials to stop action in order to identify the source of any comments about an athlete’s sex, gender identification, race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disabilities, among other things.
If that person can be verified, the culpable player or coach will immediately be ejected from the game and suspended for the next contest. Otherwise, warnings will be issued, and any further incidents could result in ejections.
Game administration will also be notified, and will be charged with ejecting any fans who engage in hate speech or harassment, according to the policy.
“This is an important topic to our board of directors, our staff, and our member schools,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “It feels especially topical given some of the recent events in our country.
“Hate speech is learned, it is not engrained. We feel like by addressing it at its core and providing education, we can help enlighten our coaches and athletes to be better citizens.”
Anderson said he doesn’t believe hate speech or harassment is a wide-spread problem among IHSA schools, but says he is aware of past issues and that “a few” allegations occur every year.
“We recognize that teenagers make mistakes. Or that they may say or do things that they do not understand are hate speech or harassment,” he said. “Interscholastic athletics and activities are an extension of the classroom. We owe it to our students to educate them on these matters.”
The announcement of the new policy was well received by athletic directors in southern Illinois.
“We are thankful that the IHSA has taken long overdue steps to take on the issue of racism within our schools and interscholastic sports in our state,” Mascoutah Athletic Director Scott Battas said. “It seems that it has been an issue that has been brushed aside and ignored for so long because it doesn’t have the same impact in every community in the state.
“School districts that have the blessing of being diverse institutions and communities know far too well how statements or gestures that are racially motivated can impact individuals, teams, and entire bases of people.”
Regardless of whether the allegations are verified at the event or not, the athletic directors from both schools will be notified of the incident within 24 hours so they can begin to address the situation internally. Additionally, if hate speech or harassment occurs during a contest, but a coach is not informed until after the contest, the same post-game procedures will still occur with both school administrations being alerted.
“There is absolutely no place in America, and especially on the playing field, for anyone to use any form of harassment and I am in full support of the IHSA’s decision to swiftly and immediately eject and suspend those found guilty,” Columbia football coach and Athletic Director Scott Horner said “This is yet another huge step in unity and respect for everyone in this country.
“Staffs must stand united in their support of this policy and not tolerate it in practice, school, etc., and schools must act in the same manner with fans.”
Incidents sometimes difficult to verify
Edwardsville Athletic Director Alexander Fox said the school has had some incidents reported in recent years, but they have been sometimes difficult to verify.
“There have been some incidents that have been reported, but during games they are difficult to substantiate. When we have taken reports we have always attempted to investigate them thoroughly,” Fox said. “Our code of conduct and school discipline code are followed when the investigations prove that such behavior occurred. I would say this is something that we don’t deal with often, but we have had incidents reported.”
The IHSA Hate Speech and Harassment Policy is in effect for all postseason IHSA state series contests and events, leaving it up to the individual schools or conferences to address. The IHSA encourages conferences to adopt the new policy as their own.
Hate speech and harassment can often times come from fans and parents. Fox said the Southwestern Conference has the right to ban fans from attending league events.
“Ejection is really just the initial consequence for bad behavior. We have control of who enters our contests and also have the ability not to allow people back. We have the right and responsibility to keep our games enjoyable for all who attend,” Fox said. “If individuals can’t meet expectations for behavior, we can ban them from contests.
“The SWC also works together to enforce those bans at all their contests. If a fan is banned at one location, we communicate with each other so that they generally cannot attend at another.”
IHSA tournament policy and procedures
According to a release from the IHSA, drafting the new policy for addressing hate speech and harassment had several goalsin mind:
- Make a clear statement the IHSA does not tolerate hate speech.
- Demonstrate that addressing hate speech or harassment is more important than the contest itself.
- Address the situation early so it does not escalate into a worse incident later.
- Demonstrate to the target and team their concern is being heard and addressed.
- Institute more severe consequences for an athlete who persists in using hate speech.
- Allow time for emotions to cool down.
