its unfortunate that the shawnee mission school district has taken that policy. i believe that discipline should not be to punish kids but rather to change behavior. obviously you do have to punish kids to an extent in that. but if you give the one and done punishment the kid has little reason to not continue what he or she is doing. however if the first time serves as a wake up call there is a good chance the kid will change his behavior accordingly, which is what i believe the ultimate goal should be.
Side note: a young man named Ryan Lilja missed his Senior football season because of the Shawnee Mission alcohol policy. This Sunday he will start at left guard for the Colts in the super bowl.....no real point to that, just a bit interesting to see that it didnt have a negative impact on his career in the long run. in fact, who knows, it may have kept him from tearing up a knee or something...
What is the appropriate first offense punishment? I honestly do not know. In this particular incident I am very confident that the parents, school administrators and coaches will come to the correct decisions for all of the student athletes and managers involved.
Is the Shawnee Mission policy too severe? At first look it does seem to be. On the other side though the punishment should not be too lenient either. It should serve both as a deterrent for possible future offenders and as a corrective punishment for those who have violated the rule. I know from personal experience back in the seventies that I needed more severe punishment for these type of offenses. I think I would have stopped drinking alcohol sooner if my earlier offenses had been dealt with more severely.
I remember reading about Ryan Lilja's offense and punishment when he was a senior in high school. I felt the punishment was too severe at the time. I would probably still say that for a first offense. But in Lilja's case maybe it did work out for the best. Perhaps if the punishment had been less severe, it might not have sent a strong enough message to Ryan and who knows what might have happened then. Perhaps it has prevented other Shawnee Mission students from doing the same thing over the years.
Again I do not know what the appropriate punishment should be for a first offense and I am completely confident that the responsible parties will make the proper decision in this case. But I also cannot just say that the Shawnee Mission policy is just outright wrong.
I wish the Furches and all the families of those involved good luck and God's grace in dealing with this situation. They are all good families and people and with God's help they would come out of this stronger as individuals and families.
