I just wish this was a hypothetical situation

[sigma7]

Via ravenword, a most interesting philosophical exercise:

A 13-year-old boy and his 17-year-old friend are [warning: links triggery] convicted of kidnapping and raping the 13-year-old's cousin. The older boy gets ten years; the younger gets rehab counseling and starts playing high school football. The younger becomes a football star and gets scholarship offers from 27 college football programs, 26 of which rescind offers when they find out about his "character issue." Tennessee signs him and welcomes him.

I can't count the number of issues this raises. There's his treatment as a juvenile by the court, whether or not that's warranted (and contrasting that with the ten years his friend got), whether the sanctions against him (or lack thereof) deserve to linger past his legal sentence. There's the fact that this sealed case has obviously been unsealed and whether we should even be discussing this. There's the disparity in his treatment now, as a football hero as opposed to if he'd just been some schlub with a 3.8 GPA and 27 ACT. Even if he does deserve a second chance, what's Lane Kiffin doing offering a free ride to a convicted rapist? How would those cheering for this man's arrival on the team feel if he couldn't play football and was just an academic scholarship winner -- would they feel safe having their kids on campus with him?

I'm just impressed that this entire unpleasant situation has managed to appall me on more levels than I thought possible.

Comments

[patchsassy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me and the boss had this exact same conversation when they wrote an AP story about it a few weeks back. It's just appalling. It's like UK still actively recruiting John Wall, who was arrested last week for breaking and entering.

Should the fact that they are a good athlete take away from their past indiscretions? I say no, because if they've done it once and just gotten a slap on the rest, there's probably a good chance they'll do it again.

[nute.livejournal.com]

This only confirms my opinion that there should be no such thing as college athletics.

[ravenskye8.livejournal.com]

Ugh - on all levels... *sigh*

[purplesquirrel.livejournal.com]

Just playing devil's advocate here:

1) 13 year old hangs around with and looks up to a 17 year old who turns out to be a very bad person who influences him to participate in the crime.

2) 17 year old is removed from his ability to influence 13 year old

3) 17 year old goes to counseling

4) 13 year old decides to make something of himself, pursues sports and becomes successful at them

5) Has the now-18 year old learned his lesson? Has he changed? Is he the same person that he was when he was 13?

[ravenword.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's devil's advocacy at all -- I think it is quite possible for troubled teens to be reformed. I don't think that a crime someone participated in at 13 should necessarily set the tone for the rest of his life. But, at the same time, I find it really hard to swallow when someone gives him an elite scholarship in spite of his gruesome history. I feel like a violent crime in someone's recent past (even though that past was during his early adolescence) should at least exempt him from highly coveted special privileges, if not from an ordinary life. I wish UT would at least make some kind of gesture to counterbalance this, like giving a few scholarships to teens who volunteer at rape crisis centers or something. But no, they just have dollar signs in their eyes. It's a tricky issue.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Pretty much exactly what ravenword said -- I wouldn't be tossing this situation around in my backbrain nearly as much as I have been if it wasn't so...intriguing, from an ethical standpoint.

We've seen situations before where athleticism can be an outlet for a personality who hasn't had a positive focus in their life, uses that outlet to better themselves. And sadly we've seen the opposite side of the equation enough times, the culture of entitlement and smug superiority corrupting a noble pastime and infecting the psyche of its practitioners.

I don't know if this kid deserves a second chance, and I don't know who should be the one to give it to him, and I don't know at what cost. There are so many questions about so many aspects of our society that arise from this mire, and very few answers to fit. (The one pressing question I have -- who thought it'd be a good idea to hire Lane Kiffin to coach anything bigger than a fantasy league team?)