Awarding 2nd chances is chancy

     Students arrested for underage drinking, a teacher arrested for assaulting a police officer, an administrator taken in for beating up his wife, teachers suspected of or known to have had improper relations with students, teachers caught with drugs off campus.
     Which of these deserves a second chance? If you listen to some people writing to the message board at epalumni.com, they all do. “Everyone deserves a second chance,” they say.
     Former city manager Glen Starnes got a second chance after being fired in Eagle Pass for making false statements on his resume. This generosity blew up in the faces of the Grantville, Ga., city council when Starnes was arrested recently for buying pot from an undercover officer.
     Not everyone deserves a second chance. Someone proven to be a habitual liar – it should be assumed – has other personal faults that make him a poor applicant for the same job elsewhere. Leeway might be given for someone who makes a mistake totally disconnected from their profession.
     This makes the case of Ms. Purcell problematic. While she has no background of similar incidents, she was present at the Homecoming parade as a district employee at a school activity. She embarrassed the district and showed terrible judgment during an event connected to her professional duties. Some length of suspension seems in order, but, in the end, the district shouldn’t want to lose an experienced teacher who would return to do a lot of good things.
     Another important factor is to separate Ms. Purcell from her family and judge her on her actions alone with no influence from the substantial contributions of the other Purcells. That her in-laws and husband have done so much to help our students doesn’t mean she is allowed to behave unacceptably.
     Following an appropriate punishment, Ms. Purcell deserves a second chance. Does everyone deserve a second chance? No. Here is what everyone DOES deserve: to be treated the same as anyone else. That desire for equal treatment for all led to the policy requiring the suspension of the Eagle football players. Previously, such punishments would be serious for one guy, minor for the next, and nothing for someone else.
     So EPISD followed an established policy known to everyone in suspending the football players. These athletes chose to ignore the rules and roll the dice that they wouldn’t get caught. They knew very well after years of playing sports that continued participation requires a high standard of behavior. If they miss football games, that’s fine. They’ll get their second chance later in being allowed to play basketball, soccer, track or baseball.
     Any illegal, unethical or prohibited behavior requires negative consequences in order to discourage continued reoccurrence of undesirable acts. Some people deserve a second chance after paying their dues; other people don’t. The severity of their misdeeds makes the biggest difference, followed by whether they can be trusted in the future to straighten up their act.
     People who screw up and lose important parts of their lives have to understand that they may never regain all the things they once had, no matter how sorry they profess to be and no matter how much they repent and apologize. That threat keeps most of us civil, but too many people will continue to have the wrong priorities and bad judgment. If they don’t get a second chance, don’t feel sorry for them.

Next: Willie Nelson on the dangers of pot

     So, the six Eagle football players caught drinking plea bargained a deal for a large fine, a requirement of 180 days of good conduct and community service. This whole incident has been handled fairly well by the school, the city courts and the police, but the community service “punishment” was a stupid idea.
     According to the Eagle Pass Chronicles website, these guys will visit elementary and junior highs “to talk to students about the dangers of consuming alcohol.”
     If these underage students who were caught with alcohol and are supposedly being punished are allowed to miss class time to visit other schools, that’s really going to piss me off. If I were a principal, I wouldn’t allow it. As a teacher. I would rebel against my students having to listen to them, and as a parent, I would demand that my kids not be made to be in their audience.
     If they want to go in the evenings and speak to church groups or boy scouts, and those groups want to have them, that’s fine. But why should we allow their mistakes to lead to wasting our precious educational time?
     Obviously, if these guys gave a damn about the “dangers of alcohol” they would never have been caught with it. They are not any kind of experts on the subject. They are not any kind of role models – anymore. Finally, they’ve lost any credibility in discussing a serious topic like this with younger kids. I’d bet $1,000 they’re all already drinking again on the weekends or at least counting down the days for the scrutiny to die out so they CAN drink every weekend again.
     I can just picture their speeches going something like this:
     Former Player One: “Hi. I’m here to talk about the dangers of alcohol. Ummm. Don’t drink alcohol because you might get kicked off your football team.”
     Former Player Two: “Right. What that guy said. You might also have to pay a big ticket.”
     Former Player Three: “Raise your hands if you play football. Oh, only 3 of you. Well, for the other 27, don’t drink alcohol because if you do, the football players will show up to drink with you, and then they might get kicked off the team.”
     Questions?
     Sixth Grader One: “Does beer taste good?”
     Former Player Four: “Well, yes, it tastes good, but don’t drink it because it’s bad for you.”
     Sixth Grader Two: “If you know alcohol is bad, why were you drinking?”
     Former Player Five: “I guess because everybody does it. But you shouldn’t.”
     Sixth Grader Three: “I know alcohol does a lot of bad things to a person. What do you think is the best reason not to drink it?”
     Former Player Six: “Probably because you might get kicked off the football team.”
     Community service for these guys should be picking up trash or painting over graffiti – something that actually makes them labor a little and something that actually provides a benefit to our community. To have them go talk to other students will really be more of a reward for them and a total waste of time for the younger kids. I truly hope this proposed “punishment” never gets carried out.