Vandalism and the funding of sports

Vandalism is bad news but it also affects the public's welfare. My theory is that by publishing the names of vandals, it may be possible to prevent future acts of vandalism because of the public embarrassment it might bring. Sort of a modern day stockade.

Last summer the youths who attempted to chop down a tree near the high school performed public service by helping with the construction of the Westside Park pavilion. I was rather shocked to find that the youths all appeared to be mild mannered and rather meek in their public decorum. Maybe they were that way because they were embarrassed to be there or maybe it was because they really are shy and withdrawn. I still cannot envision what would cause them to become enraged enough to attempt to cut down a tree to spite other individuals.

After lunch break I returned to the park and noticed that one of the youths was sitting in his car with the radio blaring full blast with rap type music. I wondered what possessed someone who appeared to be meek and mild-mannered to listen to such violent, loud music. It appears that there must be a lot of rage in our youth if rap music is their preferred form of entertainment.

I couldn't help but compare my youth to these youths. Like them, I listened to music that was considered a bad influence by our parents. Elvis's gyrations were considered too sexy for television and his long hair was definitely taboo. Rock music in the 50's, however, is mild compared to the lyrics and violence of much of today's gangsta rap music. Every generation of youths rebel in some manner. It's almost like a rite of passage. However, the form of rebellion appears to be becoming more violent. In my youth, I remember youths getting into fights but I do not remember anyone doing vandalism or other acts of violence. I wonder how much influence today's music has on the violence we see played out in the form of vandalism.

This is why I believe that the importance of sports should be downplayed in our modern day education. They undermine the true assessment of a person's character and abilities. Don't you think a potential mate should be rated based on their ability to learn and to achieve rather than to score a touchdown or make a basket? The dichotomy between the haves and have-nots will only worsen if our high schools institute participation fees. It will limit the ability of lower income kids to excel in sports. Was the tree chopping incident last fall a result of the clash between these two factions?

Personally, I feel that if the school cannot afford to fund sports and if the community cannot raise enough money to fund sports, then cutbacks in our sports programs should be made to a level that is sustainable by the school and the community. If we impose fees for sports, we no longer are providing a free education and lower income families become the victim.

European schools have clubs that support team sports in the schools rather than being supported by the schools themselves. Why not do the same thing here? Why not have local businesses support our teams? They could even put their logos on a jersey. That's how our town baseball teams were supported when I played back in the early 1960's. We must realize that sporting events provide a source of entertainment to our community. Isn't it realistic to think that the community should provide the source of revenue for our sports rather than the school system?

At this juncture in our current school crisis, now is a good time to decide which sports are really needed in our school system and how they should be supported. Imposing fees on the participants is an unfair approach to subsidizing sports in our school system. Efforts are being made by local groups to raise funds for sports. The success of these fund raisers will be a good test of how strongly we feel about our sports programs.

We have to remind ourselves that the real purpose of our school system is to cultivate the minds of our youth to prepare them for life's work. Every precious dollar in our school system should be used towards educating our children. If we are to provide competitive team sports, it should be done in an equitable and affordable way and funded by the community. This approach will mean that only those sports that are demanded by the community will be supported. Isn't that the American way?

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