In the eyes of his peers, Tim Meyer’s actions probably do not seem out of the ordinary.
On Saturday, Aug. 28, Meyer and three other students went to a party, where they consumed alcohol. Nothing unusual for high school students, all of whom, in this case, were minors.
Early Sunday morning, as they returned home, they were arrested and charged with consumption of alcohol by a minor.
Meyer, a defensive back/wide receiver for Barrington High School in Illinois, acted as many his age do, but he broke the law and violated school policy.
And, as for the school’s zero-tolerance alcohol policy, Meyer was suspended from the football team.
There is only one problem. Meyer is not just a football player, he is a good football player, one of the state’s top college prospects.
So instead of accepting responsibility for his actions and facing the consequences, he and his family went to court, seeking an injunction. They claimed the school’s policy was too harsh, and his suspension would hurt his chances of getting a college scholarship.
However, the school policy they claimed was too harsh, the one that affects only students who participate in extracurricular activities, and which he and his parents signed, was developed, in part, by a committee of students, of which Meyer was a part.
Meyer knew what would happen if he was caught. Besides being ticketed, he knew he would be suspended. He may have, as his coach said, “made a mistake like a lot of teenagers do,” but it was his choice, so the punishment fits the crime. Or does it?
Zero tolerance. This is the school’s policy. Perhaps it is too strict. Perhaps.
According to Barrington’s code, any student who uses alcohol or drugs is suspended. The school’s code is stricter than that of other school’s in the area, but in no way is it unfair.
A judge denied the family’s request, and Meyer’s appeal was turned down by the school administration. Those decisions did not mark the end of Meyer’s high school career. After sitting out a week, he began playing at a prep school in Connecticut.
Meyer’s own father, Tim Meyer, Sr., admitted his son’s actions were stupid, but said, “I do not know what this punishment accomplishes.” That statement may sum up the attitude of many of the students involved in these incidents, and many in society in general.
And it starts with the parents. They feel their child deserves special privileges because he or she has exhibited extraordinary ability on an athletic field.
The child soon develops the same attitude and it carries on with them. Though it may start in high school, or earlier, it is definitely visible in college and professional athletics. Any Sports Center broadcast undoubtedly has a segment on some athlete who has acted unlawfully.
At the college level there were UCLA football players illegally obtaining handicapped placards. In the professional ranks, Latrell Sprewell, a basketball player, choked his coach, and of course there is always the weekly “player arrested for driving while intoxicated,” or a “player accused of rape” or a “player violating the league’s substance abuse policy.”
Now it is seen in high schools, and if no punishments are levied then, and lessons are not learned early on, nothing about the current trend of criminals/athletes will change. The are not above the rules.
Brice Nixon, a sophomore journalism major, is sports editor of the Campus Times. He can be reached by e-mail at nixonb@ulv.edu.
