Teaching The Children

A couple of Sunday’s ago I wrote about the bullying in the Dolphin’s locker room and I asked the question, “What does it teach the children?” I now have the answer…

Racist Graffiti Prompts Cancellation
A high school football game has been canceled in a suburban town northwest of Boston after racist graffiti was painted on the side of a player's house.
ESPN Boston
By Scott Barboza
November 19, 2013

Lunenburg High School's remaining football games across all levels were canceled Monday after racist graffiti was painted on the home of one of its players and amid allegations of a prior incident in a game against Worcester South High School.
[…]
Lunenburg's freshman team had been scheduled to play Friday before the foundation of the home of freshman player Isaac Phillips was spray-painted with a racial epithet. "Knights don't need n------," the graffiti said. Lunenburg's mascot is the Knights.
[…]
Phillips has also been the subject of bullying incidents while on the team, including having his cleats removed from his locker, filled with water and thrown in the trash, his family says, according to reports. The tires of a bicycle he used as transportation home from practice were slashed, he said.

When the high school players see their idols harassing and bullying other player, they will copy that behavior. When professional athletes are treated like prima donnas and can get away with anything, the student athletes will mimic that behavior.

Somewhere or other we lost sportsmanship and replaced it with “win at any cost.”

People tell me that sports builds character. Yes, but what character?

People tell me that sports builds team work. Yes, but what happens to those who do not fit the mold?

It is time to step back and ask, what is the purpose of school sports? Is it to make millionaires? Is it to get college scholarships? Is it to learn to cheat to get ahead?

Update 11/25/13:

Schools Chief Among 4 Indicted In Steubenville Rape Case
NPR
by Mark Memmott
November 25, 2013

Four adults, including the superintendent of the city's schools, have been indicted by a grand jury on charges related to the aftermath and alleged attempted coverup of a teenage girl's 2012 rape by members of the high school football team in Steubenville, Ohio.
[...]
Now, , Steubenville City Schools Superintendent Michael McVey has been "charged with tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice and falsification." Also charged: elementary school principal Lynett Gorman, for alleged failure to report child abuse; wrestling coach Seth Fluharty, for alleged failure to report child abuse; and volunteer football coach Matthew Belardine, "who faces charges allowing underage drinking, obstructing official business, falsification, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor."

Update 12/6/13:
The mother of the house that was spray painted in Lunenburg is now a "person of interest" in the case.