OPRF H.S.: School or correctional facility?

Opinion: Letters To The Editor

Tuesday, October 8th, 2013 10:00 PM

I heard that the "streakers" at the OPRF High School game received out-of-school suspensions for their acts. The way I understand it, these students ran across the field wearing swimsuits with a message painted across their bodies asking girls to go to a dance. Considering that they in no way interfered with the game and didn't expose their entire body, how could this possibly warrant an out-of-school suspension? Is OPRF a school or a correctional facility? I used to think it was the former; now I think it is the latter.

Kevin Shalla
Oak Park

Reader Comments

13 Comments - Add Your Comment

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Mike from Oak Park

Posted: October 13th, 2013 10:51 AM

In Oak Park, the severity of the punishment a student receives for any infraction is based solely on whether that student's parents threaten to sue the school.

parent

Posted: October 12th, 2013 10:37 PM

Zero tolerance is supposed to mean zero tolerance for the behavior, not the kid. It would make more sense to exclude these kids from football games for the rest of the season than from the classroom.

Neighbor from Oak Park

Posted: October 12th, 2013 2:32 PM

Lighten up, everyone...

Speedway from Oak Park, Illinois

Posted: October 12th, 2013 12:35 PM

There is a lesson here. There are consequences to our actions. Let us all learn it.

You Are So Right

Posted: October 12th, 2013 9:27 AM

"Interesting..." Had those been black students running across the field these white folks would have had no problem with "throwing the book" at them. Diverse and accepting my arse.

Interesting

Posted: October 12th, 2013 8:12 AM

So the zero-tolerance policy is a good policy until you don't agree with it? Tell that to plenty of kids who felt their punishment didn't fit the "crime." These boys should be punished and I am amazed that people are supporting them. Does race play a factor in people's response? Definitely. And yep I said it.

Parent

Posted: October 11th, 2013 10:39 PM

I think the issue here is that the HS's knee-jerk reaction to any problem is to exclude kids from the educational environment. What happened to community service, a year's worth of detentions, etc? Surely there is a way to punish the kids AND give them an education.

Realize

Posted: October 9th, 2013 10:44 PM

Ok, "Research," so play out your scenario...these boys do it and get a slap on the wrist and then other boys decide it is permissible and all of a sudden clowns are running on the field all the time, taking the focus away from this top-notch football team. The punishment should act as a deterrent. I know this is Oak Park, but come on...

Research

Posted: October 9th, 2013 10:29 PM

If you had really done your research, you would know that the cops were savvy enough not to pursue boys who had done something that, if prosecuted, would get laughed out of court. I am not defending what these boys did really. It was silly. But this incident is simply not on par with the type of activity that gets the type of punishment that these boys received.

Realize

Posted: October 9th, 2013 9:19 PM

Kevin you do realize that they wound up in a getaway gar and fled from the cops...or did you not do your research? How about if somebody had been killed in the chase?

Spartacus from Oak Park

Posted: October 9th, 2013 8:29 PM

Their behavior may have been inappropriate, but there have been students caught selling drugs on campus that received less punishment than these boys did.

Correction from Oak Park

Posted: October 9th, 2013 2:17 PM

*you're

Kevin your kidding, right?

Posted: October 9th, 2013 9:21 AM

You must be a high school student to not understand the punishment. The behavior while might be slightly humorous, is still completely inappropriate and deserves punishment.

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