SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Discipline

What should the punishment be if a player is arrested during the HS season ? should it matter if they are a juvenile(under 18) or 18(an adult)in the eyes of the law.

An arrest means nothing, "Innocent until proven guilty" there is no blanket answer for this one every situation and kids shoild be looked at individually!

You failed to catch the two points I was making
1. An arrest does not make you guilty of any crime, just accused of one. If you punish someone for being accused you then leave yourself open to being sued and looking like a fool when the charges get thrown out or dismised if they were improper. Somewhere between all those Perry Mason and Law and Order reruns you should fgure the police are not always right, and every "innocent" person is not innocent and that is why we have a system to figure it out.

2. Every situation is differnet and no blanket rule can be applied. With the limted ammount of info you offered in original question there was no way to make a judgement. The nature of the crime and circumstances around it are what the school/parents/ and coach must look at in deciding what to do, not something like looking it up on a chart what the suspension is going to have to be.

You used the term punishment, so I would guess you have decided that the individual is guilty, you said charged not convicted or admitted to, and so if you are going to punish someone for being charged with somthing, I suggest you make it somthing you would accept as fair if the charges get dropped. If it was you and you where not guilty what punishment would you think was fair?

As for the timeing of the system, most places I have seen quick justice also tend to have something a little less than fair justice.

If we are arguing about being able to play, then I believe the player should have the chance to continue to play. If a player is arrested depending on their everyday character and integrity, there would need to be a conference between the player, parents, and coach. Overall, I would allow them to continue on with daily life and routine if they can. Don't blindly punish someone till you are 100% sure they did something wrong. 'Innocent UNTIL proven Guilty'

I think Chief's answer covers it pretty well. BTW - in SC an adult in the eyes of the courts is 17, not 18. At least for arrests.

Chief
I believe in innocent till proven guilty. However in my own daughters case she received a DUI, and yes she was guilty of drinking and driving the field test said so and she told me so, thank god nobody was injured. After hiring a top attorney at a cost that would make a grown man cry, you already know the rest of the story, all charges dropped. So in the eyes of the law she was not guilty, in my home she was guilty as h**l and lost the privilege of her car for the semester. If she was in HS season what should the coach have done ? remember chief NOT GUILTY.

If convicted with DUI, then whether you hired lawyers to get them off or not, I'm sure that you were in violation of the school's alcohol/drug policy and if so should have been punished accordingly.

This is where #2 comes in. She was "not guilty" in the eyes of the law and so as far as school goes I would resist them having any final say in "punishing" my child for somthing that the legal authorities have resolved in our favor. Not to say I would not be making her life "h**l" for a while. but I would not make the coach have to be the bad guy when you got her out of truouble (somthing I would have done too).

Were it my child I would be looking at facts, like is soccer a positive focus in her life or was it part of what caused this? Only you know (or suspect) if taking soccer away from her would be helpful to her turning it around. Remember if you put it the schools hands she may be kicked off the team forever, you need to know exactly what all the schools (and school board) policies are. When kids can be expelled for having a camping knife in the trunk of their car or any of a hundred other horror stories out there I would not puit much faith in the school system (kind of like your faith might be in the legal system after seeing a guilty kid get off here).

Also have to wonder about her role on the team and its effect of the season. Is sitting her going to "punish" the other girls who have worked hard to get where they are? In the end only you(your family) should decide what should be done to her now and if you think she should sit I would bet most coaches would be willing to agree to your request to sit her, for what ever reason you might decide.

Thanks for coming foward with situation I know how hard it must be to be looking for perspectives on somthing like this. My initial issue with the quilt thing comes from seeing a kid get charged with somthing they did not do (arresting officers even knew it when they arrested the kid) only to see charges dropped after the kid was named in the paper, luckily in this case no laywer was required, but still left kid with mud on their face for somothing they did not do.

Spot On!