14 year old kicked off his school team for violating team rule. Is it a right or a privilege to participate in sports?

 

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/01/04/report-indiana-school-sued-kicking-boy-basketball-team-hair/?test=late

Bogus.

 

How can someone with a straight face state that the kid's constitutional rights were violated?

 

The only way this kid could possibly have a case is if the length of his hair is somehow tied to his religion.

What a litigious society we live in today. I agree with you Clyde. Bogus indeed.

Bogus is the word, indeed. Yet another set of parents from the "self esteem" generation where everything they said or did was supposed to be of utmost importance to everyone and everything they wanted to do was somehow a God-given right (with apologies to the liberal agnostics out there). I hope that the Indiana courts see the ridiculousness of the accusation and throw this suit out of court.

Along the same lines....a few weeks ago I went and watched my nephew, who is on the 7th grade team at school, play basketball. Their starting point guard had the Justin Bieber haircut. He had the left side combed forward for those that know what the haircut looks like. He couldn't go 5 seconds without running his fingers through it to make sure it was pushed forward. I never wanted to shave someones head so bad in my life. My nephew said after the game the coach told the kid he would kick off the team if he touched his hair again.

When I played baseball in high school we had a similar rule. Come every February 15th, everyone's hair was cut down.

Back in '72, if you made the baseball team at Holmes H.S., under coach Bob White, the hair was to be cut short. However, I was allowed to keep my mutton chops!

The football, wrestling, and basketball teams all had this rule in place at my middle and high schools.

Since when did playing middle school basketball become a right? I always believed it was a privilege to play sports!!!!!

Since when did playing middle school basketball become a right? I always believed it was a privilege to play sports!!!!!

 

I know this is a typical answer from an attorney, but I'm some where in the middle between playing sports being a right and a privilege. If public education is a right and if athletics are such an important part of the educational process as we like to proclaim in support of spending tax payer money on athletics; if athletics provide those all important lessons that we talk about; if the discipline of participation in athletics helps in the classroom as GPA comparisons of athletes vs non-athletes indicates; and if participation in athletics keeps some segment of students in school and concerned about doing well enough in the classroom to remain eligible, then I don't think athletics can be so easily dismissed as just a privilege because of the positive impact on the educational process. Then again, I don't think athletics rise to the level of being a constitutional right that would negate the imposition of reasonable rules. So put me firmly in the position of saying athletics are not quite a right, but are much more than a just a privilege because of the importance athletics play in the whole educational process. Either athletics are an important part of the educational process justifying the expenditure of the tax payers dollars (which means they are more than just a privilege that can be arbitrarily and willy nilly denied to students) or they are not an important part of the educational process, in which case I think tax money should not be spent on high school athletics.

 

On the issue at hand, I'm likewise as fuzzy. If a coach made a silly rule that said all players had to wear a mullet because he liked mullets and I couldn't get the school administration or Board of Education to overrule such a rule, knowing how important athletics are to the educational process of my children, I can't so surely say I would not under any circumstances consider litigation.

I know this is a typical answer from an attorney, but I'm some where in the middle between playing sports being a right and a privilege. If public education is a right and if athletics are such an important part of the educational process as we like to proclaim in support of spending tax payer money on athletics; if athletics provide those all important lessons that we talk about; if the discipline of participation in athletics helps in the classroom as GPA comparisons of athletes vs non-athletes indicates; and if participation in athletics keeps some segment of students in school and concerned about doing well enough in the classroom to remain eligible, then I don't think athletics can be so easily dismissed as just a privilege because of the positive impact on the educational process. Then again, I don't think athletics rise to the level of being a constitutional right that would negate the imposition of reasonable rules. So put me firmly in the position of saying athletics are not quite a right, but are much more than a just a privilege because of the importance athletics play in the whole educational process. Either athletics are an important part of the educational process justifying the expenditure of the tax payers dollars (which means they are more than just a privilege that can be arbitrarily and willy nilly denied to students) or they are not an important part of the educational process, in which case I think tax money should not be spent on high school athletics.

 

On the issue at hand, I'm likewise as fuzzy. If a coach made a silly rule that said all players had to wear a mullet because he liked mullets and I couldn't get the school administration or Board of Education to overrule such a rule, knowing how important athletics are to the educational process of my children, I can't so surely say I would not under any circumstances consider litigation.

I lean towards being in your camp. I agree wholeheartedly with the first paragraph as I think athletics could be considered more than a privilige.

 

On the second part this is where I think that common sense should come in. I understand what you are saying with the "mullet rule" but the actual rule imposed here is one that is quite common and by no means unreasonable. Part of the benefit of athletic participation is that it helps mold and prepare you for many things further on in life. Having a dress code, grooming standard, haircut rule, etc. are all fairly common in athletics at a higher level and the workplace in general. Typically there are also other rules imposed when you are part of a team and that's just part of being a team. What's next, a kid is going to sue when he is suspended a game for violating team curfew? So to this kid I say, "grab a pair of scissors or sit your whiney butt at home"!

I know this is a typical answer from an attorney, but I'm some where in the middle between playing sports being a right and a privilege. If public education is a right and if athletics are such an important part of the educational process as we like to proclaim in support of spending tax payer money on athletics; if athletics provide those all important lessons that we talk about; if the discipline of participation in athletics helps in the classroom as GPA comparisons of athletes vs non-athletes indicates; and if participation in athletics keeps some segment of students in school and concerned about doing well enough in the classroom to remain eligible, then I don't think athletics can be so easily dismissed as just a privilege because of the positive impact on the educational process. Then again, I don't think athletics rise to the level of being a constitutional right that would negate the imposition of reasonable rules. So put me firmly in the position of saying athletics are not quite a right, but are much more than a just a privilege because of the importance athletics play in the whole educational process. Either athletics are an important part of the educational process justifying the expenditure of the tax payers dollars (which means they are more than just a privilege that can be arbitrarily and willy nilly denied to students) or they are not an important part of the educational process, in which case I think tax money should not be spent on high school athletics.

 

I think that any successful lawsuit that creates case law that declares that students have a rigth to play school sponsered athletics would open a big can of worms. If students have a right to participate in athletics, than I am going to file suit agaisnt Chuck Broughton, Apollo High School, the Daviess Co. Board of Education and the KHSAAA. You see, Coach Broughton cut me from the basketball team my sophmore year, and I now feel that I need to be compensated for for having been denied my right to participate in athletics.

I think that any successful lawsuit that creates case law that declares that students have a rigth to play school sponsered athletics would open a big can of worms. If students have a right to participate in athletics, than I am going to file suit agaisnt Chuck Broughton, Apollo High School, the Daviess Co. Board of Education and the KHSAAA. You see, Coach Broughton cut me from the basketball team my sophmore year, and I now feel that I need to be compensated for for having been denied my right to participate in athletics.

Great point. Couldn't this lead to a scenario where if wrestler A wins a wrestle off against wrestler B, A & B will still have to alternate matches so wrestler B would be participating?

Part of the lesson of playing sports is the one taught by learning to be part of a team, doing some things you may not necessarily like for the betterment of the team. Nothing about it should be a "right" but I agree it is much more than a privelege to be a part of a high school team. If this kid values his hair more than the spot on the team - he can learn the lesson that there are choices in life and someone else would be glad to conform to the haircut rule for the opportunity to be on the team.

 

I'm sure there's a park and rec league that would be glad to have a kid who is more concerned with being free to express himself as an individual than to make sacrifices to be a part of a team.

I know this is a typical answer from an attorney, but I'm some where in the middle between playing sports being a right and a privilege. If public education is a right and if athletics are such an important part of the educational process as we like to proclaim in support of spending tax payer money on athletics; if athletics provide those all important lessons that we talk about; if the discipline of participation in athletics helps in the classroom as GPA comparisons of athletes vs non-athletes indicates; and if participation in athletics keeps some segment of students in school and concerned about doing well enough in the classroom to remain eligible, then I don't think athletics can be so easily dismissed as just a privilege because of the positive impact on the educational process. Then again, I don't think athletics rise to the level of being a constitutional right that would negate the imposition of reasonable rules. So put me firmly in the position of saying athletics are not quite a right, but are much more than a just a privilege because of the importance athletics play in the whole educational process. Either athletics are an important part of the educational process justifying the expenditure of the tax payers dollars (which means they are more than just a privilege that can be arbitrarily and willy nilly denied to students) or they are not an important part of the educational process, in which case I think tax money should not be spent on high school athletics.

 

On the issue at hand, I'm likewise as fuzzy. If a coach made a silly rule that said all players had to wear a mullet because he liked mullets and I couldn't get the school administration or Board of Education to overrule such a rule, knowing how important athletics are to the educational process of my children, I can't so surely say I would not under any circumstances consider litigation.

Tell me what I am missing here. By the logic displayed in your post, if playing sports has enough affect on the educational process to elevate it beyond privilege status, then every child who tries out for any sport should be allowed on the team and allowed to play. That applies to all levels, NO EXCEPTIONS. Preventing those who wish to play sports from doing so would bar them from an important part of the educational process, wouldn't it?

 

Is the client list down, Counselor?