questions for hs athletes

[hilly]

i'm just curious about something.
with the talk about the oakfield suspensions and the fact that i hear about a player, or players getting suspended every season, what kind of education do your schools give you about drinking and what will happen if you get caught?
when i was in high school we didn't even have to sign a code of conduct - but i graduated in 1995. i've heard that pretty much all student athletes have to sign one now, but is that the extent of it?
do your schools do anything to educate you away from what you learn during the day at school?
i'm thinking that there should be a mandatory class, regulated by section 5, that every athlete must attend before the start of a season. when a player is caught drinking and suspended for several games, it hurts the kid and the team. the school can teach you the bad effects on your health and such, but more needs to be done for athletes. many pro teams make rookies take a class on what can happen if they get in trouble with the law and such. why wouldn't this work in high school?
i would love to hear from the athletes on this site about what your coaches, teams and schools tell you about drinking during the season.

[cbellfan15]

At C-S we have to sign the contract that lasts the full year INCLUDING summer. We aren't really eduacted that much other then 10th grade health on effects. Punishment usually is just he 2 game suspension and certain amount of conditioning...kids know up front though the punishments but what they can and cna't do are kind of in the gray area

[DrewVT6]

it's not just drinking anymore though. marijuana is just as big of an issue.

When I was in HS, we lost a state championship basketball game by 4pts. Four weeks earlier our starting PF was kicked off the team for cleaning the resin out of his bowl in study hall. He averaged 10-12ppg. While that wouldn't have guaranteed we win the state final, it would have made things much more difficult for the other team.

I agree with Hilly in thinking that there should be some sort of perhaps statewide program for athletes. Get a grant or two, make up a documentary that hits home with HS kids. Then do some sort of follow up program throughout the season.

Another acquaintance in HS, who I played AAU hoops with, is still in jail after he drove a group of kids to Canada and drank with them. His car flipped over into a stream on the way home and of the 5 people in the car, he was the only survivor.

[DrewVT6]

At C-S we have to sign the contract that lasts the full year INCLUDING summer. We aren't really eduacted that much other then 10th grade health on effects. Punishment usually is just he 2 game suspension and certain amount of conditioning...kids know up front though the punishments but what they can and cna't do are kind of in the gray area

How can they make you sign something that includes a period when you aren't even in the schools jurispudence?

Perhaps too, if our culture didn't have such a puritanical attitude towards alcohol it wouldn't be such an issue?

I'm more in favor of a team by team contract than an athletic department contract that covers an entire year. I think that sort of a think just belittles the importance of a contract in the students minds.

[cbellfan15]

Personally I know a few kids who have gotten in trouble in the off season and have been suspended. Even if you are playing only a Fall and Spring sport but get caught in the winter still get in trouble. It used to go season by season. It has even gone into family outings, there has been cases where kids are seen by other indiviudals with their families and turned in. Personally what you do with ur family at outings its ur private business! I agree though that there should be a state wide rule. You see states with state wide testing for drugs (steroids/Pot) why can't you implement those tests along with a set punishment state wide. You see kids transfer to other schools when they get in trouble!

Who knows if there ever will be a solution!

[hilly]

i really think the solution is education. kids are going to drink and that is something that will never stop. but if they know what will happen to them if they get caught, maybe they won't do the stupid stuff like driving or going to a party where anything can happen.
if a kid has a few drinks at a family event, he shouldn't be punished. that is his parent's call. if he has a few drinks at a party and the police show up, he should be punished. kids shouldn't be encouraged to drink, but they should know that if they are going to do it, they need to be smart about it.