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Westerly School Committee Makes The Right Call

THIS MAY BE THE FIRST IN A weekly series entitled, “you just can't make this stuff up.”

And for the inaugural installment, we head to Westerly, where there's kudos, bravos, bon mots and mad props all around for the town's School Committee (otherwise known as the Board of Education) for upholding the recent suspensions of three Westerly High School football players.

The players in question admitted drinking alcohol on the night of a school dance late last month, violating the substance abuse policy in the school's athletic handbook. The policy, rather unambiguous, states that a first offense calls for the offending student-athlete(s) to be dismissed from the team for the remainder of the season and for any postseason games.

All student-athletes and their parents are required to sign a contract saying that they will adhere to all provisions of the school's athletic policy.

Common sense suggests there's no need for the replay official here.

But then, this is sports, where common sense has fallen into the fissure and is dropping faster than the Cowboys. Despite the irrefutability of the school policy, there was, nonetheless, a “yeah, but.” It came in the form of an appeal, which resulted in a hearing last week, where School Committee members rendered their final decisions.

During the hearing, Thomas Liguori Jr., the attorney representing the students, lectured the Westerly school system, proving that newspaper columnists don't necessarily bat leadoff on the next Fox show, “People Who Say Dumb Things.”

Mr. Liguori, according to an account in the Westerly Sun, told school officials they were partly responsible for the incident because they failed to provide substance abuse education programs for their student-athletes.

“As adults, we have failed,” he said.

You just can't make this stuff up.

For the moment, we must pause for a 30-second timeout to issue the appropriate response to Mr. Liguori.

BWAH-HAW-HAW-HAW-HAW.

Never hurts to get a good laugh in to go with the morning Maxwell House, right?

Or maybe in this case, it's really Chock Full O'Nuts.

Here's a universal substance abuse education program for student-athletes: Drinking and using drugs, in or out of season, violates the foundation of participating on a team sport. Members of a team have a deeper sense of obligation to things that are greater than their own self interest, an obligation to think the consequences all the way through.

Plus, drinking and drug use is illegal for teenagers.

There.

Do we need anything else?

The idea that any responsibility for this episode belongs anywhere else but on three student-athletes is just another example of how the culture sports create uncontrollably swirls and swirls and swirls the bowl.

What's worse, there were people in the audience who thought the man made some semblance of sense. For anybody to whom that applies:

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

And now listen: In the real world, your signature counts. You sign your name, you are responsible. In the Westerly school system, that means if you get caught violating the substance abuse policy, your privilege of playing sports is revoked. Note the word “privilege” and not “birthright.”

This is quite the message being sent to the student-athletes. They admit that they drank before a dance in clear violation of school policy. They know the punishment. And yet they have excuses made for them, all in the name of semantics. Apparently, admitting the mistake, what has been termed “self referral,” was supposed to get school board officials to rethink the punishment.

Admitting the mistake is honorable, to be sure.

But life lesson No. 1: Consequences still happen, especially when “self-referrals” come a bit too late.

The Sun reported that Mr. Liguori told the board a more appropri ate punishment would be to suspend the players for a few games, make them apologize to the team, attend school alcohol counseling and complete two hours of community service per week for the remainder of the season.

Even if Mr. Liguori's ideas are prudent, they're nothing more than fodder for later discourse on policy change. At the moment, the policy is quite clear. The School Committee made it clear that it will be enforced.

Westerly school officials should keep the policy as it is worded. Maybe future student-athletes will think twice before they take their first swig of the euphoric nectar. Maybe future student-athletes will understand the significance of their signature. It's the same signature that will go on school loans, car loans and the mortgage.

Renege on those and see how far you get.

An attorney, no doubt at the behest of the parents, standing before a room of people and trying to give them the old razzle dazzle is cause to recall the words of columnist and author Anna Quindlen. She once wrote that “it's easy to understand why kids are reluctant to take responsibility for their actions. They inherit it.”

She calls it “parental illusion.”

Its primary symptom is dizzying spirals of rationalization that will excuse any behavior.

Happily, their rationalizations didn't work in Westerly.

This is the opinion of Day assistant sports editor Mike DiMauro. He may be reached at m.dimauro@theday.com or 701-4391.

Source: www.checkhotnews.com

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