Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModeHarsher punishment needed for underage athlete drinkers
July 19, 2005 —
Two-a-days in the hot August sun can make high school football players wish they would have stuck to summer paper routes instead of fly routes and button hooks. Lucky for them though, a recent rule change to a local high school athletic handbook will allow football players – and all other athletes – to enjoy a nice cold beer after summer practice with no fear of lost playing time.
The Swan Valley School District has amended their athletic code so that first-offense athlete drinkers will not lose playing time if caught drinking during the summer. While advocates of the rule will point out that subsequent punishments are now harsher, the fact that subsequent penalties are even necessary is more than enough to prove that first-time punishments should be greater, regardless of when they occur.
No doubt, Swan Valley administrators have their reasons for doing this. They will say that punishments in the summer are difficult to impose and that such a change puts discipline back in the hands of parents.
However, recent trends in society have shown just how badly many parents fail when it comes to disciplining their children and school districts like Swan Valley need to take this into consideration before they start lightening up on today's youth.
Punishment for student-athletes when it comes to underage drinking should be cut and dry. Upon first offense, a student-athlete caught drinking would sit out an entire season. Subsequent offenses would be easy. The student-athlete will have "athlete" removed from their title permanently. No school sports again. Period. You're out on two strikes instead of three.
Sadly, there are probably many people who would argue that such a punishment is too severe. "Kids will be kids" and taking away sports would do more bad than good. But if these kids cherish sports to that extent, then they should avoid actions which could cause them to lose it. That's how the real world works.
I recently heard on the radio that underage drinking skyrockets in the summer from the combination of warm weather and too much free time.
That's why a rule change such as this is like literally handing a student-athlete a "get out of jail free" card. It gives them a second chance. A free spin. A wild card. A "phone-a-friend."
As a one-time student-athlete, I cannot begin to emphasize how happy I would have been had my school enacted a severe underage drinking policy for its athletes. Far too frequently it seemed like the teams I played on in high school had more combined MIPs than wins. And while such a rule would have potentially cost these teams some of its best players, I would have much rather played alongside someone less talented who cared enough and was responsible enough not to risk their place on the team.
It is easy to see that this entire debate is about more than underage drinking, though. It is about responsibility, or more accurately, the lack thereof in today's youth Students (especially student-athletes) represent their schools, their community and their family. We need to stop blaming the parents, media, video games and everything and everyone else when little Johnny does something wrong. Little Johnny is the one that screwed up and he should have to deal with it.
Yes, there are still good kids out there, but far too many of them are being overshadowed by the bullies, drinkers and cheaters of the world. We all know that one bad apple ruins the whole bunch.
What happens, though, is that these students leave their high schools and take their lack of discipline with them. They move on to jobs or universities where responsibility is greater and the punishment for lacking it is far more severe.
SVSU's punishment for parking in the wrong spot is stricter than Swan Valley's new summer drinking policy. And unfortunately, it seems that the ones who end up suffering from all of this trouble are those that never caused it in the first place.
Despite its ignorance, I hope the administration of Swan Valley made this decision with good intentions. We have all seen examples of schools turning a blind eye to athlete conduct and I would like to think that there are reasons for this other than the football team losing too many good athletes over the summer from MIPs. Board member Charles Latty stands by Swan Valley's decision and says they are in no way condoning the use of alcohol. If that's the case, Mr. Latty, then punish those who use it illegally.
We keep hearing about how bad America's youth has gotten. Crime is up, graduation rates are down and today's generation says that tomorrow's will run this country into the ground. And while a school district altering their athletic handbook would seem to have little influence on what happens twenty or thirty years down the road, it is yet another example that things need to change before things will ever change.