Negative NFL press offers opportunity to educate

BROWN DEER (WITI) -- The negative NFL press has really put abuse and domestic violence in the forefront. FOX6 News found parents at Brown Deer High School who say this news is a chance to speak with their kids about good decisions.

Under the Friday night lights at Brown Deer High School, the fans cheer on their favorite team -- but the football on this field, isn't the only focus.

After weeks of bad press, from domestic violence, to child abuse accusations...

"I don't know if they necessarily responded initially in the right way," said football mom, Lynn Halmar.

"Now they're trying to do damage control and trying to fix this," said football mom, Sarah Jellen.

The NFL is trying to fix what went wrong.

"Domestic violence and sexual assault have no place in the NFL," said Roger Goodell.

The commissioner announced Friday, September 19th, a new policy and a mandate that all players and staff on all 32 teams undergo education and training on how to prevent abuse.

"You can't do anything about yesterday, you can do everything about tomorrow. They're taking the step forward to address it," said Angela Mancuso, Director of the Women's Center in Waukesha.

Mancuso says the recent headlines has opened the conversation about abuse.

"Something like this that has been this sensationalized, does open more doors for discussion in numerous platforms," said Mancuso.

Discussions that are happening -- since this story broke, the Women's Center says locally and nationally the volume of calls and walk-ins has increased dramatically.