Punished for helping friends.

Avatar for mily12
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2003
Punished for helping friends.
2
Sat, 03-11-2006 - 9:58am

I'm more than angry. I'm furious. I'm so furious, I can feel my heart racing and my hands trembling. The cause of this emotion doesn't even involve my child nor a child I even know. It involves a cheerleader from a neighboring suburb who is being penalized for doing the right thing, IMO. As reported in the newspaper, Kelly Forrest was given permission by her parents to pick up two of her friends who'd called her and told her they were too drunk to drive home. Kelly was not in the house for more than a few minutes before she left with her two drunken friends. While there, she didn't engage in any illicit behavior. The principal of her school, however, punished her by not allowing her to participate in this weekend's state cheerleading competition.

Kelly didn't do anything wrong. In fact, she did the right thing. She went to the aid of two friends who were in no condition to get behind the wheel. We tell our kids not to drink and drive and to call for a ride if they feel impared. Kelly is being punished for coming to the aid of her friends. As she herself is quoted as saying, if she hadn't picked up her friends, she could have been attending their funeral.

A few of the principal's comments were ludicrous. In the first one he states that Kelly did not have to enter the home in order to pick up her friends. Well, how many of us have missed calls on our cells simply because we didn't hear the ringer. I can imagine that the noise level was high inside the home and that it's conceiveable that the two girls didn't even hear their phone. Secondly, the Principal states that Kelly, as a teen, is incapable of knowing the difference between intoxication and alcohol poisoning. Well, I don't know about you, but as an individual who is not medically trained, I'm not certain that I would know the difference. Besides, if one of the girl's had had alcohol poisoning, isn't it conceivable to think that Kelly might have saved her? It's possible that the girl could have simply died inside the house if Kelly hadn't picked her up when she did.

What is this message sending to our kids? If you do the right thing and go to the aid of a friend, you will be punished? Look away, don't help a friend in need. That's sad, very sad. What kind of adults will this message produce? The kind that looks the other way when someone needs help?

Lastly, I wonder if these contracts that our athletes sign are even legal, especially for kids under 18? Additionally, if the parent signs the contract along with their teen, is that legal? Can one party be held legally responsible for signing a waiver for another party?

Mily

Avatar for momtb4
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sat, 03-11-2006 - 11:53am

I agree, that is insane. I hope the principal is taken to task over this.

On the other hand, as the parent of a driving teen, one who gets crazy calls like this, I go with him. We pick them up together and get them home together. Drunk teens are a problem, and not one that I feel a teen alone should be handling.

Other than that, this whole thing is way off base. I hope there is an uprising, to make school officials aware of the actual problem.

Avatar for mily12
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2003
Sat, 03-11-2006 - 1:22pm

I agree, I'd go along, also. I'm in the process of writing a Letter to the Editor expressing my disapproval. I hope other parents follow suit.

Mily