Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp
They are both breaking the rules/law.
There are two issues at stake here. One, is the kid who reportedly made a racist comment. Two, the coach who broke the rules when he refused to play.
Clearly, if the kid did make the remarks alleged he should be punished for it and since he did get a three game suspension it can be assumed that he made the remarks. Hopefully, the kid learned his lesson because his actions are clearly unacceptable.
But the coach made a mistake here too. He had no right to forfeit the game according to the rules. So he was punished for that. While the actions of the kid who made the racist remarks reflect solely upon the kid, the coach's actions affected all the kids involved, set a poor example for the kids he coached (the lesson being if you don't like things you are allowed to break the rules) and, as an adult, he's much culpable for mistake since it cannot be blamed on youth.
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I'm with RedHot here. To me, the example set is that some things are more important than rules. It's not a matter that he broke the rules because there was something he didn't like; he broke a rule because he saw something that he knew was wrong.
A large amount of the social change in our world has come from acts of rule-breaking. Yes, there are consequences for breaking rules, and while the penalty in this case seems like overkill, enduring the consequences are always a lot easier when you know you did the right thing.