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May 12, 2010
A prickly situation
In case you've been living in a cave, or maybe you just really don't care about such things, you probably know about the big hullabaloo over Arizona's new law designed to drive away illegal immigrants. Predictably, there's a group of people who think this will send Arizona into a new Golden Age, and there's another group of people who are convinced Arizona will soon be Bavaria, circa 1941.
Some administrators at Highland Park High School clearly fall into the latter, because they've decided to scrap the school's girls basketball team's trip to Arizona over "safety concerns":
Reveling in its first conference championship in 26 years, the Highland Park High School girls varsity basketball team has been selling cookies for months to raise funds for a tournament in Arizona. But those hoop dreams were dashed when players learned they couldn't go because of that state's new crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Safety concerns partly fueled the decision, but the trip also "would not be aligned with our beliefs and values," said District 113 Assistant Superintendent Suzan Hebson.
This is terrible. The administrators are doing nothing but injecting their political opinions into the educational process. The rationale is likely that the administrators, in good conscience, could not support Arizona businesses. The only people who are getting punished, though, are the Highland Park girls basketball team. Although the school has said they can go to a tournament somewhere else, they must have picked Arizona for a reason.
On a bigger level, it's another example of adults acting like children and ruining things for the actual children. You hear of canceled proms and kids suspended for wacky hairstyles. These are nothing but adults using their power to advance their own agendas at the expense of children. The "leadership" at Highland Park HS needs to do some serious introspection - if not, one must seriously question their suitability for jobs like that.
Also, I took that picture of a cactus when I was in Arizona. Pretty cool, eh?
entry no. 1452
Posted at May 12, 2010 10:32 AM