View from the Bench

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October 23, 2009 • Marta Kotz
Filed under View from the Bench

Every year, dozens of student are suspected of attending parties with alcohol, participating in the activities. They then receive punishment for their wrongdoings, often losing the privileges of playing in upcoming sporting events.
A common occurrence of this is when the administration anonymously receives pictures of a high school student with alcohol.
These pictures are usually taken from social networking sites. The administration is forced to take action and to punish athletes by taking away privileges to play.
“I don’t think it’s fair that people can anonymously turn in pictures. The people that usually turn in pictures are ones who have personal problems with the person and just want to get them in trouble,” Senior Alex Agnew said.
A big struggle with any athletic team is to ensure that each and every person gets along and plays as a team.
Even if teammates can put differences aside for competition, they often can’t put them aside in social situations. High school athletes with grudges will search for pictures which incriminate the person they have beef with.
“I think it shows no school pride or spirit when students turn other students in. Being punished for pictures is not reasonable because a picture does not come along with an exact explanation,” Agnew said.
Often, pictures off of the Internet can be taken out of context. For example, there could be a beer can in the background of a wedding photo, while the person in the picture drinking nothing at all.
According to most administrators, this is enough to suspend the athlete for a certain number of competitions. Because there is no set system on what key evidence need to be in a picture, the administration has no choice but to approach the student athlete about the picture and to follow up proven violations with a punishment.
“Even though there’s alcohol in a picture, it doesn’t mean doesn’t mean your participating in under age drinking or anything ‘unbecoming of an athlete.’ I think in many cases, people are just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Agnew said.
If a new system was implemented, with specific guidelines on handling anonymously sent pictures, and what proof is required for suspension to occur, this problem could be solved.
Athletics isn’t the only thing facing the challenge of the social networking giant. Many feel their privacy is violated due to websites like Facebook. The truth is, if you don’t want something out in the open, it’s as simple as untagging yourself from a picture, or even simpler, not putting it on the Internet.