Our View: 'Honor code' discussion timing was way off
A student shouldn't wait until after violating a contract to say that its terms were unfair.
In life, just as in sports, timing is everything. The family of a high school athlete should have known that.
The Yarmouth High School girls' lacrosse player went to federal court this week to get a judge to halt consequences that began flowing her way after a picture posted on a social networking Web site appeared to show her drinking alcohol. That's a violation of the school's honor code, which she and other students who participate in extracurricular activities signed.
The family's attorney filed a complaint, saying that the student's rights had been violated and the school was using the code to intrude into an area that should be considered a parent's sole responsibility. A judge refused to grant an injunction, but the case is still alive on the federal court docket.
This might be a good conversation for a community like Yarmouth to have, but the timing is all wrong. The time to protest an honor code is before you sign it. After the student and her family agreed to accept the code and the student violated its terms, it's not the school that has gone too far.
Schools recognize that students want to take part in sports and use that as a carrot to encourage good behavior. That can range from things that are entirely within the school's traditional authority, like grades or attendance, to enforcing a ban on weekend parties, which in the past would have been considered a job for parents or the police.
What's changed is that a lot of parents don't want that responsibility all to themselves and welcome any help that they can get. If the school can use access to playing a sport to influence their kid's behavior, many parents are happy to have an ally.
But if more families share the Yarmouth family's objection to the honor code, they have an option: They can refuse to sign. If enough families felt the same way, the school district would be forced to rethink its policy.
And there are better venues for taking on these issues than a federal courthouse. School committees are elected bodies with the ultimate authority over policies within their districts. That should be the place to have a community conversation about the code's value, not the U.S. District Court.
Just like the timing, the place for the discussion also matters. In this case, both were way off.
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23 COMMENTS
steve99 said...
It is simple if they don't want to sign then they don't play!! Hang around after school and drink in the woods. The majority of parents and kids will sign the code, it is just a select few who don't like rules!!!
April 16, 2010 at 6:26 AM Report abuse
jude said...
This is an issue for the federal courts? Holy cow! Much ado about nothing.
April 16, 2010 at 8:29 AM Report abuse
padman23 said...
If we can't hold a student to a contract why should we hold anyone to one?
April 16, 2010 at 8:33 AM Report abuse
Pilllory said...
THAT opinion piece was definately right on the mark!
April 16, 2010 at 9:59 AM Report abuse
null said...
Another examaple of a family demonstrating to their children that personal responsibility is not true responsibility. It was something that was convenient for the moment.
April 16, 2010 at 10:10 AM Report abuse
Cadred said...
Actions have consequences, a good lesson to learn.
April 16, 2010 at 10:16 AM Report abuse
John said...
Note the differenc ebwetween "appeared" to be drinking alcohol and actually driunking. Was she just holding a can? That isn't drinking. Did she confess to drinking?
April 16, 2010 at 10:24 AM Report abuse
henryelm said...
YUP it's the timing that was off, NOT the student, the lawyer or the parents who were "off"??? Doing away with honor codes = NO taxpayers funded school sponsored sports. Privatize sports , pay for them out of your own pocket, take on the liability ( and parental responsibility) ALL ON YOUR OWN and drinking or not drinking( and the consequences) becomes a PURELY parental responsibility. It still will be illegal for those under 21, by the way though. ..It will be the wave of the future with deep state school budget cuts anyhow and it will become a MOOT point. Want to play sports and represent the school? You agree to school rules. It's pretty simple.
April 16, 2010 at 10:55 AM Report abuse
henryelm said...
according to reports 50 kids( were caught) violated the code. Yarmouth has a problem. And I don't think It is the CODE that is the problem, underage DRINKING and following a code (once signed) IS the problem.
April 16, 2010 at 11:00 AM Report abuse
common_cents said...
Gee, when hasn't a school policy been redefined by a court? For example, special education is fraught with changes induced by court decisions, as are controversial curricula, i.e. sex. ed. Now that the P.C. police at the school decided to check out facebook pages---and who's paying for this snooping?; and ENFORCING their perceived violations of the honor code on and off the field, this new practice should be thoroughly aired in court. Your 'view' is myopic!'
April 16, 2010 at 11:12 AM Report abuse
Mad_As_Hell said...
I am against the concept of schools enforcing behavior that does not happen on school grounds. I am against "guilty until proven innocent" Draconian policies being administered by dim witted politically correct school administrators. I say the courts are just the place for this insanity to be adjudicated.
April 16, 2010 at 11:42 AM Report abuse
henryelm said...
common don't make things up. The school wasn't wasting their time checking out face book. SOMEONE provided the info and turned them in, another student? another parent?Maybe some think the HONOR code should be followed and it wasn't just a suggestion. Privatize sports and end the problem of who has "authority" over school sports and kids behavior.
April 16, 2010 at 12:49 PM Report abuse
henryelm said...
the court decided the school DIDN'T over reach. Private sports= NO school honor code. Taxpayer funded school sports=expectation of good grades and good behavior. Too bad professional sports DON"T have an enforceable honor code. Maybe the kids will lead them and set an example for them?
April 16, 2010 at 12:56 PM Report abuse
common_cents said...
Henry...so no school personnel took the time to verify the snoop's 'evidence'? Doesn't pass the straight face test. Either have specialized 'sports' schools for kids who are going to play in college, and 'club' sports for all the rest operated by Y's, rec. dept's, Legions, etc.; or fully discuss HONOR CODES of CONDUCT with parents and members of the community before this kind of snooping gets even more out of hand.
April 16, 2010 at 12:59 PM Report abuse
common_cents said...
The doctrine is called IN LOCO PARENTIS...look it up; you'll be shocked to see how much control a school has over your child, if they want to use it.
April 16, 2010 at 1:02 PM Report abuse
Dino90000000 said...
Why are they fighting the "Honor Code" like this. Breaking the law is breaking the law.
April 16, 2010 at 1:20 PM Report abuse
TheTruthSon said...
Here is the law in Maine from MRSA Title 17A Section 554: (Verbatim) "B. Knowingly sells, furnishes, gives away or offers to sell, furnish or give away to a child under 16 years of age any intoxicating liquor, cigarettes, tobacco, air rifles, gunpowder, smokeless powder or ammunition for firearms; [1999, c. 11, §1 (AMD).]" For those of you who still don't understand this means that a parent can provide their legal child alcohol age 16 or above alcohol in their residence and be within their legal right to do so. School policy cannot supercede State Law!
April 16, 2010 at 2:57 PM Report abuse
MaineHiker said...
Mad_As_Hell, I agree, town schools need to get right sized about their authority. I'll call the police, thank you, rather than the local school secretary. Bully haven fancy fool school administrators need to know that their attitudes are CAUSING violence in our schools. They have no right to shove my children around. I'm sure Jim Morse would agree, we need these neanderthals eluted from our school system.
April 16, 2010 at 2:58 PM Report abuse
Equals said...
Mad_As_Hell, The point is that there is an "Honor Code" and the family and student "did" sign it. Facebook is not private, and what you do outside of school/work can and does affect what you do while at school/work. They should have taken it to court before signing if they felt it was intrusive. Oh, but like the majority of us they probably didn't read the fine print. They probably didn't read it at all and just signed it so she could play. Life will bite you in the rear if you don't pay attention.
April 16, 2010 at 4:20 PM Report abuse
common_cents said...
There is a lot of variation around the world--ahem remember the diversity thing, folks in terms of drinking practices among youth, ranging from 0 to 21, with lots of exceptions: http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html
April 16, 2010 at 4:29 PM Report abuse
henryelm said...
common you are late to the party. Despite your claims to the contrary, the school didn't, go looking for the info, it( and apparently OTHER proof etc) arrived on their desk. Apparently 50 have been suspended for violating the code in recent months. Instead of attacking the code as the culprit, how about dealing with the problem -underage drinking, etc. I'd say Yarmouth has a "problem" and it isn't "the code". What about personal responsibility instead of: "the big bad school made me do it "?PLEASE!!!Privatize sports and it's not an issue. "problem " goes away. Except for OUI 's and accidents. YUP HOW dare the big bad school expect responsible behavior for being on a school sponsored team and how dare they make it a condition of participating in sports.
April 16, 2010 at 5:29 PM Report abuse
SL said...
Thetruth.... You chose one law specifically addresses an issue. The overarching law is quite clear. Furnishing and providing a place to consume would be the charges. I have an idea...test your theory and your dad can represent that person pro Bono.
April 16, 2010 at 8:46 PM Report abuse
common_cents said...
The honor code is not a legally binding contract; and that's the issue before the court. Public School Sports can exercise a lot of control in shaping a player's behavior...unless it's a UMO coach of female softball, but that's another discussion. I'm glad the code got challenged; and now the legal community gets to make a long overdue review of it.
April 17, 2010 at 12:20 PM Report abuse