To Love, Honor and Cherish

by Timothy Paterson

  Chapter 17

  In October, two situations arose which would change the lives of two of Betty’s sons. The first of these concerned Luke. Luke’s teacher sent a note home with Luke one afternoon, saying that Luke was having trouble following written instructions on his assignments.

  The school nurse had tested his eyesight and it was normal. After Betty read the note, she got one of Luke’s schoolbooks and asked him to start reading from it.

  As Luke read aloud, Betty noticed that he was getting words mixed up and the letters in the words as well. Betty suspected that Luke might have Dyslexia. She took him to a specialist and that was in fact the diagnosis. The specialist gave Betty some information, explaining how she could help him deal with his dyslexia. The school was notified of the diagnosis, and Betty, Joe and Luke’s older siblings started helping him with his reading.

  Luke would have Dyslexia his entire life, but he would learn to live with it and to manage it quite effectively.

  The second situation involved Matt. Matt was one of the best players on the 8th grade basketball team at school. He was also one of the tallest. There was a school policy that stated; ‘anyone caught using alcohol or drugs was immediately dropped from any sports team that they were connected with’.

  One afternoon, after practice, four of the players were drinking beer in the locker room. Coach Adams walked in and caught them red-handed. He knew that he should remove them from the team, but they were four of his best players. More importantly, one of them was the son of a school board member and another was his own son; Daniel.

  He knew that he had to punish them for drinking, but if he mentioned to the principal that he had caught them, the school would remove them from the team.

  Matt was in the restroom, which was connected to the locker room and he overheard the entire conversation between the coach and the four players. The coach told the players that he would decide their punishment and let them know what it would be, at practice, the next day.

  On the following day, at practice, Coach Adams told the team that he had found some empty beer cans in the locker room and that since he didn’t know who had been drinking, that he had no choice, but to suspend the entire team for two games. The team was undefeated at the time and the two suspended games would be counted as losses.

  Several of the players started to argue, but the coach said that Principal Andrews had agreed with him and their decision was final.

  Matt was especially angry. He knew the truth about what had happened. He realized that if he told the principal the names of the players who had been drinking, they would be kicked off the team. He did not want to be a snitch and furthermore, he doubted that the principal would take his word over that of a teacher.

  Since Matt was the editor of the school paper, he decided to write an editorial to express his views, protesting how unreasonable it was to suspend the entire team because of a few teammates breaking the rules.

  The principal had to approve all of the stories before the paper was published. Principal Andrews told Matt that he could not allow Matt’s editorial to be printed in the paper. Matt was angry, but he did not say anything.

  On that Friday evening, Matt, who was still upset about the whole incident, decided to retaliate. He snuck out of the house with two dozen eggs, took them to the school, and hurled them at the windows of the school gymnasium.

  The next morning, when Betty asked what happened to the eggs, Matt lied and said he had dropped them and they had all broken, so he threw them out and cleaned up the mess.

  On Monday morning, the students were informed of the vandalism to the school. Principal Andrews told them that since he had no way of knowing who did it, that he had no choice but to take $300 out of the student activity fund to pay for cost of having the mess cleaned up.

  All day long, Matt heard talk throughout the school about the vandalism and how upset the students were. That night, Matt’s conscience was bothering him and he told Joe what he had done. “I really feel terrible, Joe. What should I do?”

  Joe told him that part of growing up, was taking responsibility for one’s actions, and being prepared to take the consequences. Joe told Matt that he would have to do what he thought was right, but that he had to tell his mother what he had done.

  Matt told his mother everything, including what Joe had told him. His mother agreed with Joe’s advice and told Matt to do what he thought was right. That night, Matt could not fall asleep. He tossed and turned and when he did finally fall asleep, he had an awful nightmare. As soon as he woke up, Matt knew what he had to do.

  When he got to school, Matt informed Principal Andrews that he was the individual who had tossed the eggs at the windows. Matt then wrote a letter of apology to the students and handed it to the principal. The principal approved the letter and agreed to have it distributed to all of the students. Mr. Andrews told Matt that he would let him know what his punishment would be, by the end of the day.

  By mid morning, all of the students had received a copy of Matt’s Letter. This is what they read:

  “My fellow students; this morning, I confessed to Mr. Andrews that I was the one who threw the eggs at the school.

  I was angry because the entire basketball team was suspended for two games because of the actions of a few players. That, however, is no justification for my behavior.

  As an 8th grader and the editor of the school newspaper, I knew better, but I acted without considering the ramifications of my exploit.

  I want to apologize to all of the students and the teachers in the school, not only for the damage I caused, but more importantly, for taking away your feelings of safety and security you feel when you are in this school. The students should feel secure when they come to school.

  I will pay for the damages, so the money will not come out of the student funds and I will await my punishment from Mr. Andrews.

  If my fellow students believe I should be removed as editor of the newspaper, then I will resign. I will leave that decision up to you.” The letter was signed, “Matt Rogers”

  During the rest of the day, Matt got the silent treatment from more than a few students and some had some angry words for Matt. However, the majority of the students accepted his apology and said that he should remain the editor of the newspaper.

  That afternoon, after school was over, Matt met with Mr. Andrews to receive his punishment. Mr. Andrews informed him that after discussion with Coach Adams, the two of them had agreed that Matt should receive a two-week suspension, which would begin immediately.

  Matt was very upset. “I don’t think that is a reasonable punishment, sir,” he said. “I will pay for the damages and I will wash the school windows after school, but it is far too extreme of a punishment, to suspend me for two weeks.”

  Mr. Andrews told him that the decision had been made and it was final, and that he would be calling Matt’s mother that afternoon.

  When Matt got home, he told his mom and Joe what had happened at school and about the two-week suspension. He told them that the punishment was unfair.

  When his mom asked him what he planned to do about it, Matt looked puzzled. He wanted his mom or Joe to go to the school and talk with the principal. His mom told him that he had to handle it himself, as he was the one who did the damage. “You got yourself into this predicament, you will have to find a way to rectify the situation” said Betty.

  Matt thought it over and decided that he would plead his case before the school board. He called the school board president and asked for an opportunity to address the school board at their upcoming meeting, which was two days away.

  The president of the school board granted his request to speak at the meeting. Next, Matt got on the computer and e-mailed a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Tribune.

  In the letter, he explained what he had done and why he had done it. H
e again apologized to the students and parents of the school district. He wrote that the punishment did not fit the crime and that the team suspension had been unfair in the first place.

  The next morning, Matt checked the newspaper, but his letter to the editor, was not there.

  That afternoon, one of his teammates called him and said that over ¾ of the students had signed a petition protesting Matt’s suspension. The team would bring it to the school board meeting the next day.

  On Wednesday morning, Matt saw that his letter to the editor was in the paper. Within an hour, Matt was receiving phone calls from many parents who were behind him.

  The school also received many calls disapproving their decision to suspend Matt, as well as their decision to suspend the entire team for two games.

  That evening, Matt was wearing a suit as he, his mother, Joe and Joe’s lawyer walked into the school board meeting. The room was packed with students and parents all in support of Matt.

  When the meeting was called to order, one of Matt’s teammates presented the school board with the petition to cancel the suspension. Most of the students in the middle school as well as several teachers signed it.

  When Matt was asked to speak, he stood up and faced the board members. The room got silent as Matt began to address them; “First of all, I would like to formally apologize to the school board members as well as to the school, for the damage I caused to the gymnasium. I have with me, a cashier’s check for $300 to pay for the cost of cleaning the windows. I did not get this money from my mother. I withdrew it from my savings account. I earned the money last summer.

  I have a spotless record and I am an honor student. I made a mistake, and I agree that there has to be consequences for my actions.

  However, I think that the punishment I have received is too extreme and does not fit the crime. I offered to spend time after school washing the school windows, but that suggestion was rejected.

  I regret that I handled my anger in the wrong way, but it was not my first choice of expressing my opinion.

  First, I wrote an editorial for the school paper, protesting the team suspension, but I was told that it would not be printed. I should have pursued it through proper channels, but instead, I acted without thinking.”

  Matt paused for a moment and then continued. “When the school year first started, we were all told that if we were caught with alcohol or drugs, that we would be kicked off of the team, period. However, when a few players were drinking, Coach Adams suspended the entire team for two games.

  We are undefeated. Those two games will be counted as losses. I don’t think that is fair to the team, especially those of us who weren’t drinking.”

  At this point, the president of the school board interrupted Matt. “Coach Adams said he suspended the entire team because he didn’t know which players had been drinking.”

  Matt got very angry and said, “Excuse me Sir, but that is completely untruthful.” The entire room got very quiet as Matt continued. “Coach Adams knew precisely which four players had been drinking, because he caught them with the beer in the locker room.”

  “I was in the restroom attached to the locker room and I overheard the entire conversation. I should have told Mr. Andrews this, but, I didn’t think he would believe me, a thirteen year old kid rather than one of the teachers.”

  The president of the board asked him “If this was true, why didn’t he kick those four students off the team?” Everybody was looking at Coach Adams when Matt answered the question.

  “I guess that Coach Adams didn’t kick them off the team, because one of the students was the son of a school board member and another one of them was Coach Adam’s son.”

  As he said that, Matt handed the list with the names of the four students to the school board president. The entire room became very loud with everyone talking.

  The president called the room to order and said that the board would discuss the matter in private and return with its decision. He also asked the son of the school board member; one of the players on Matt’s list, to join them.

  Twenty minutes later, the board returned with its decision. The president started speaking and the entire room got quiet. “After going over all of the facts, we realize that this incident was not handled in the proper manner. We have decided to drop Matt’s suspension and accept Matt’s check for the damages. We have also dropped the team suspension.”

  “However, there has to be consequences for the students who were drinking. The four students involved, are hereby removed from the basketball team and will be barred from playing on any other sports teams for the rest of the year.”

  “As to the other matter before the school board, Matt, while your anger was justified, we cannot condone vandalism. You showed poor judgment, as well as unsportsmanlike behavior. You are hereby suspended from the basketball team for the next two games.” The entire room began booing the school board.

  When the room had calmed down, Matt addressed the school board president; “Sir, it won’t be necessary to suspend me. Before I came to this meeting tonight, I made the decision to quit the basketball team. I cannot play for a coach whom I no longer respect.”

  Everybody started cheering for Matt and then a student in the back of the room stood up and said, “That goes for me as well. I’m quitting also.” Matt turned around and saw that it was one of his teammates. Then, one by one, nine more players stood up and quit the basketball team.

  After the meeting was over, a man came over to Matt who was talking to Betty and Joe, and introduced himself as the editor of the San Francisco Tribune.

  He told Matt that he read Matt’s letter in the paper as well as the one to the students. He told Matt that he was impressed by his writing ability as well as his courage and integrity for standing up for what he believed in.

  “When you graduate from college, come see me. I can use writers like you.” Then, he shook Matt’s hand. After the editor left, Betty hugged her son and told him, that she was very proud of him. Joe put his arm around Matt’s shoulder and said, “What you did tonight, took a great deal of courage. You have shown maturity beyond your years. I am very proud of you.”

  When Matt heard this, he was bursting with pride and he felt ten feet tall. Then, Matt told Joe and his mom, “Thank you for making me solve my problem and not fixing it for me. This experience makes me realize that I need to speak out against injustice and not just wait until others do.”

  After the school board meeting, there was a lot of pressure on the board to get rid of Coach Adams and at the end of the semester, he was asked to resign. Mr. Andrews was transferred to another school as well, but in a teaching position, not an administrative one.

  Since there were not enough players to finish the basketball season, the school forfeited the rest of the games of the season.