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Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Violence Strikes Again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The new school year is barely a few weeks old and already we’re hearing of student-on-student violence at a local campus.
This morning, AJC cops reporter Kathy Jefcoats reported that a knife-wielding student stabbed a classmate at Luella High School.
A Henry County Police spokesman told Kathy that the 16-year-old victim’s injuries were non-life threatening.
Last school year — on the very first day of classes — you may recall that a Whitewater High School student brought guns and ammunition to campus. The cache of weapons was found in the trunk of his Volvo, but senior Robin Kittrell also had been carrying a switchblade in his pants pocket as he walked the hallways.
Fortunately, no one was physically hurt in the Fayette County incident. But Kittrell, a former college-bound student, now is serving a two-year sentence in a state detention center.
UPDATE: Well, this Henry County story sure has taken a bizarre twist. Police are now saying the wounds on that Luella High School student were self-inflicted.
When Heroes Fall, What Do You Tell The Kids?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When I was 3 years old, my favorite T-shirt was for Johns Hopkins University, where my father went to engineering school and — hands down — the best lacrosse team in the country reigned.
I still remember my dad taking my sisters and me to Homewood Field to see the boys practice. I’m pretty sure I wore my T-shirt.
By the time I reached high school, I was playing four sports: soccer, basketball, lacrosse and softball. Back then, the highlight of my day was sitting around the dinner table watching highlight reels of David Robinson dunking over opponents on the court at the Naval Academy.
My sister was dating a midshipman at the time, and I was lucky enough to get Robinson’s autograph.
Of course, I started thinking about all of this because of Michael Vick, the once seemingly indomitable, now remarkably disgraced Atlanta Falcons quarterback, who has admitted his guilt in a deadly, illegal dog-fighting business. I just can’t stop thinking about all of the kids heading to school today in their football jerseys.
What do you say to them when they ask why everyone has turned on their hero?
Sports are ingrained in our culture, so they’re also ingrained in our schools. Every year, professional athletes visit schoolchildren to try to motivate them to do better in class. Some teachers even deck the walls of their classrooms with pictures of famous players.
So do you take down Vick’s photograph today? Do you stop wearing your Falcons jersey, which the kids all thought was so cool? Do you teach students that sometimes heroes fail, too?
My mom tossed my JHU tee long ago. She was tired of seeing me wear it. But I still have that sheet of USNA letterhead.
There are some memories from youth that you just want to hold on to.
