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.
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1 comment:
I strongly agree with what you have stated. As a parent, I would've preferred that my son learned from his mistake at a young age rather than when he is older with a family. Perhaps it's selfishness from the persons who show anger towards the decision made to suspend the players. Selfishness for thinking of making a winning team without thinking that these students could've easily been drinking and driving and killed themselves or others. I do know that being proactive in decision making is the best way to go.
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