General

School Teams Supposed to Build Values, Not Impose Them

Sep 8, 2009, 9:00 PM UTC

If you buy something from a link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Many high school coaches envision their jobs as consisting of providing equal parts mentoring and actual game instruction to their young charges. From the standpoint of someone who places religion at the center of their value system, mentoring may equal ministering. â†µâ†µBut that becomes problematic in instances such as the one that Scott Mooney entered into. The head coach of the football team at Louisville’s Breckinridge High School loaded about 20 of his players onto a bus late last month, and took them to his church where half of them were baptized.â†µ

â†µ

â†µâ†µ

â†µâ†µNaturally, parents of some of the kids are outraged, on one hand because this was done without their consent, but also, according to one kid, under false pretenses -- student Robert Coffey said Mooney had initially promised the players that they would be seeing a motivational speaker and then having a steak dinner. â†µ

â†µâ†µIt complicates further when you find out that Mooney has the backing of the schools superintendent, who also belongs to the church and was present when the baptisms occurred.â†µ

â†µ

â†µ â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥[Superintendent Janet] Meeks said she would have sought the consent of parents for the baptism of students if they had been “7 or 8 or 9” years old. But she didn’t think it was necessary for the players who are “16 or 17.” â†µâ†µâ†µWhich seems like odd reasoning considering that students aged 16 and 17, while more mature than their younger counterparts, are still minors. â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥The church’s pastor, the Rev. Ron Davis, said that he requires minors to obtain their parents’ consent to be baptized, but he added: “Sometimes 16-year-olds look like 18 years. We did the best we could.” â†µâ†µâ†µWhen dealing with something as potentially hot-button as religion and a religious ceremony as loaded with import as a baptism, an “aw-shucks-level-best” attitude probably isn’t going to cut it with parents who feel that their kids have been coerced into something serious. â†µ

â†µâ†µWhether or not it is an actionable claim is up for some dispute, but there is plenty of irresponsibility to be found in this case.â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

See More: