High School Football Coach or...Manslaughter Convict?
As a former high school football player, I have been very intrigued in the ongoing trial of former Pleasure Ridge ParkHigh School coach Jason Stinson.I have been following the case day by day reading and listening to various testimonies.Just to be clear, there is no mistaking the fact that a tragedy occurred that hot August day and a vibrant young athlete lost his life.It is also apparent to me that for a parent to lose a child must be the most devastating and life changing event that could ever occur.But to accuse this coach of manslaughter almost seems as though the parents are just looking to blame someone for the loss of their child.Again, having played the sport for 4 years in high school and 2 years in junior high, I am fully aware of the requirements and demands made by the coaches and staff.There have been many days that I thought I would collapse in the heat, going in full gear at 3:00 in the afternoon on a hot July or August day.Practicing day after day in the sweltering heat can eventually take its toll on you.All of the coaches make the same basic demands and they are all regulated by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA).The KHSAA not only enforce rules upon the coaches and their staff, but also they make all of the rules.As has been shown in all of the school investigation of this case, Coach Stinson followed all KHSAA on that tragic day.To make a long story short, the father of the victim was at the practice and not one time during practice showed any concern that the kids were being over worked in the heat.The victim was on a certain ADHD medication that causes increased dehydration and other effects that may increase the risk of heat exhaustion.So, there are a lot of facts in this case that I think should exonerate the coach from criminal charges, but his career and his life have been shredded in a million pieces.
When you think about it, there are tons of people that could be to blame, if blame is what you're looking to place. There were other students who said that the player complained all day of feeling bad, could they be to blame since they didn't try and stop him from practice that afternoon? There is the maker of the drug Adderall who list the possible side effects on their package inserts, but they don't warn against practicing football in the heat, should the drug company be to blame? There were the parents who knew the side effects of the drug and what possibly could happen when on the medication and being in the heat. They didn't stop their son from being on the football team, should they be to blame?
Again, this is an absolute tragedy, but so many factors play a role and it seems impossible to me to put blame on one person, the head football coach, for the death of this high school player. The coach who puts hours and hours of time in for these kids to even have a football team. The coach who made all of the players run (as all high school coaches do). There was no difference in this coach than any other high school coach that would run a practice. He was just in an unfortunate situation where this tragedy occurred. I think the parents who are pressing charges should step back and take a look at themselves rather than trying to put blame on someone else.
Overall I think the blog is very good and gives plenty of information about the incident that occurred especially when you talked about the things that happened throughout the day before the death. On the other hand you could think about adding what the argument against yours is so we can see both sides and and be able to add in input on what we may think is right. -Tiara Cambron
This is an appropriate topic for your blog post, and you feel passionate about the issue, which is good.
Before you get into where you come down on the issue in the introduction, you need to briefly summarize what this case is about for your readers who don't know. This summary should be no more than two sentences and needs to be included the first time you mention "Pleasure Ridge Park High School coach Jason Stinson" in your introduction.
Your first paragraph is too long and should be cut into shorter paragraphs. I recommend starting a new paragraph when you begn talking about your own football experience, and then introducing your football background more slowly at the beginning of the second paragraph.
Then your third paragraph should talk about how that day was no different than any other Kentucky practice -- and the KHSAA rules.
The fourth paragraph should focus on the more personal aspects of the case--that the father of the victim was at the practice and that the victim was on medication.
After that, you can include your last two paragraphs.
Finally, you have too many grammar and punctuation errors here, and those need to be fixed for your essay to pass at the revision stage.
We are a group of (mostly) freshman at Western Kentucky University, and we have a few things we want to talk about. Also, we have to do this for our English 100 class—whether we want to or not.
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Overall I think the blog is very good and gives plenty of information about the incident that occurred especially when you talked about the things that happened throughout the day before the death. On the other hand you could think about adding what the argument against yours is so we can see both sides and and be able to add in input on what we may think is right.
ReplyDelete-Tiara Cambron
Ben,
ReplyDeleteThis is an appropriate topic for your blog post, and you feel passionate about the issue, which is good.
Before you get into where you come down on the issue in the introduction, you need to briefly summarize what this case is about for your readers who don't know. This summary should be no more than two sentences and needs to be included the first time you mention "Pleasure Ridge Park High School coach Jason Stinson" in your introduction.
Your first paragraph is too long and should be cut into shorter paragraphs. I recommend starting a new paragraph when you begn talking about your own football experience, and then introducing your football background more slowly at the beginning of the second paragraph.
Then your third paragraph should talk about how that day was no different than any other Kentucky practice -- and the KHSAA rules.
The fourth paragraph should focus on the more personal aspects of the case--that the father of the victim was at the practice and that the victim was on medication.
After that, you can include your last two paragraphs.
Finally, you have too many grammar and punctuation errors here, and those need to be fixed for your essay to pass at the revision stage.
Dr. McCaffrey