Jamie Pitts

Sat, Feb 2, 2013 : 2:10 p.m.

Swinging a crutch in order to severely injure someone else is a felony. How about slamming into someone and causing a brain injury? So many of us cherish football but we must admit that we're looking at a simulated warfield when we watch a game. Here you have two coaches who command two cadres of young men to run at full speed and slam into each other like rams. With the helmets designed the way that they are, the players are already starting to sustain brain injuries. Are we doing psychological harm to them as well? Because the way things work -- the way the psychology involved works -- these young men will go to great lengths to do whatever the coaches tell them to do, or, worse, what their instincts tell them to do. And where did these instincts come from? Think about it. Of course, there has to be consequences for felonious behavior. We have to fulfill our desire for justice, because our collective values have been violated. But we also have to also take the situation into account -- that there is a fierce militancy that is fostered in these players by the situation and that it is dangerous. It does not take much to influence focused, battle-activated young men to perform violent deeds outside of the dotted lines that normally constrain what these young men do on the field. This is why the coaches are more responsible for this dangerous incident, and these young men are less so. I hope that the court will take this into consideration at the trial. Observing the prevalent attitude in this discussion, I seriously doubt it.

A2comments

Fri, Feb 1, 2013 : 12:30 p.m.

Well if a PhD and an MEd think that, it must be right. Poor Dwight aka Howard Wolowitz... Signed, A2Comments, MBA

Westfringe

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 6:03 p.m.

Nope, and it's not racism. The color of your skin doesn't matter. If you choose to act violently you pay the price.

Basic Bob

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 5:13 p.m.

How can one assert that the school board handled the situation properly when no students were suspended for fighting on school property at a school event? The school board and administration have done nothing to address the violation of school rules. This goes well beyond smoking in the woods, people were knocked down and clubbed.

nowayjose

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 4:15 p.m.

So a victim in your opinion doesn't have a right to have his/her assailant brought on charges. You might feel different if someone smashes you in the face with a crutch.

JimB

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 4:05 p.m.

Let's learn from this and move on. I'm suprised that the race card was played here.

Ken

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 3:41 p.m.

A school is not a sanctuary from the law and its application, enforcement, and consequences.

Jim Mulchay

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 3:12 p.m.

Would this have been handled differently if this had occurred in one of the school buildings? Would this have been handled differently if it had happened in Briarwood or on Main Street? (I surely don't know) As I understand it, the legal issue (now) has nothing to do with "why" the situation occurred or "who" started it; but rather what actions some individuals took - which someone in law enforcement felt was sufficient to initiate legal action. As far as the youth or maturity of the accused - what is maturity? when does one become responsible? 18 is the age for voting and enlistment; 16 is old enough to drive; 21 old enough to drink; 35 old enough to be president of the US;

Nicholas Urfe

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 2:48 p.m.

If he committed no crime, he has nothing to fear. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. What I think I saw on that video was a very serious attack. Vicious. I look forward to the facts coming out during trial.

mstairs

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 2:44 p.m.

" How can we not feel this has a tinge of racism." How can you send a letter to the editor and not proof-read it? Is your PhD in English?

pseudo

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 2:31 p.m.

I don't agree with this letter. I can see these people are very smart with all those letters after their name but unchecked violent behavior begets more violent behavior. I think we all live in "the real world" . Schools should not be in the law enforcement business nor should they be a shield to it. These are not mere children - these are clearly very big young men. Big enough to swing a crutch as a weapon as an example. I view keeping "that"(behavior) in the school system akin to covering it up or giving a violent person a fee pass because they wore a school uniform. I might have been swayed if the film hadn't been so clear. Anyone swinging a crutch like that on the street would be arrested and charged...I see no difference here.

Billy

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 2:23 p.m.

"when a great many others took part in the brawl" Wrong....you have either NOT watched the video....or you are WILLFULLY trying to disseminate false information. Those charged were both the instigators and the aggressors. You don't charge people for DEFENDING themselves... I question the judgement of these individuals who apparently have "doctorates" if they're willing to tell outright lies to support their case...

Unusual Suspect

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 2:19 p.m.

"We do not condone fighting" Yes, you do, by making excuses for them (e.g, "caught up in the heat of the moment," "for the most part engaging in pushing and punching"). Many - most, really - people get "caught up in the heat of the moment" when they are teens, and later as adults, but they do not attack somebody else with a weapon. And it's disgusting to bring race into it and at the same time try to hide that it's an issue for you ("Regardless of race, these charges should be dropped.") For at least one of you, it's what you do as a professional. The wording of the letter above does a good job of obscuring it, but it's clearly there.

OriginalSnookie

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 2:19 p.m.

I think that there should have been more punishment for the coaches for starting the brawl, and I don't like how AAPS handled it, but at the same time I don't think that the kids should go to jail for this. There were a lot of other kids in the brawl. The AAPS schools should handle the kids punishment

Billy

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 2:14 p.m.

I'm sorry....the law is the law....you don't get special privileges because you fit into some demographic...

Unusual Suspect

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 2:04 p.m.

These enablers are talking to the wrong audience about the issue being moved from the schools to the courts. They need to speak to the perpetrator. When he committed felony assault, HE moved it from the school to the courts. Nobody else did that.

Ricardo Queso

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 1:56 p.m.

Please... An 18 year old is and adult and should be aware of his actions. Pulling the hoodie over his head (IMHO) indicates enough awareness to attempt to avoid identification. Enough with the race baiting.

tom swift jr.

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 1:54 p.m.

It is exactly this philosophy of NOT holding a young person accountable for his/her choices that results in those individuals continuing to make poor, and even more dangerous, decisions in the future. Being "caught up in the heat of the moment" is never an excuse for a felony act. "It is wrong to subject young, often immature teenagers to the court system in this case, where a stigma of lawbreaker could follow them throughout life." There is no logic to this statement. How is it "wrong", morally, legally, ethically? Should we just dissolve our Juvenile Courts because prosecuting "immature teenagers" will leave a "stigma"? Should we give all teenagers a free pass in terms of responsibility for their choices, no matter how dangerous. Your statement about the fact that these young people are African American is a red herring, they are not being prosecuted as a result of their race, but because of their choice to assault other individuals. Your advanced degrees that you seem to be so proud of (and, yes, some of us have advanced/professional degrees as well) seem to have left some gaps in your education and understanding of youth and their behaviors.

WalkingJoe

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 1:54 p.m.

"where a stigma of lawbreaker could follow them throughout life." Or it could act as a lesson to show a young man, White, African American or any other ethnic group, that there are consequences for their actions.

RunsWithScissors

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 1:39 p.m.

From what I've seen and heard, the authorities weren't cherry-picking based on race. Is there an instance where a non-African American is seen assaulting someone? If so, then that should be brought to the attention of the authorities. I agree that the coaches are responsible for setting an example and behaving as adults but all assaults committed on school property are subject to charges in the court of law.

Barb's Mom

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 1:37 p.m.

You say "Ann Arbor Public Schools handled the situation appropriately" and "Both teams were given consequences and these coaches are no longer coaching.". The AAPS did nothing to the coaches. they are not coaching because they quit, they weren't fired over this issue. It has been pointed out that AA Pioneer players were acting like thugs to other teams earlier in the year and nothing was done so the AAPS did not handle the situation appropriately. Also what if this would have been the baseball team and the young man swung a bat that was at his disposal and killed someone, would you still think that was ok and it was just the coaches who should be held accountable.

Macabre Sunset

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 1:36 p.m.

I don't see why something that would be a felony anywhere else should be excused just because it's on school property. We have a judicial system. Violent children, unpunished, will become violent adults - perhaps so inured to violence that they will spend their lives in prison. The courts should come down hard on children who assault other children while there's time to reform them. Why should we accept violence in the schools - against our most vulnerable citizens? And to add the charge of racism to this case? Ugly. Just because someone is black doesn't mean he gets a free pass to hit someone with a weapon. You're not doing the African-American community any favors by suggesting extra leniency. Most crime committed by black people is against other black people. That is why the inner cities can become so hopeless.

Brad

Thu, Jan 31, 2013 : 1:23 p.m.

"for the most part engaging in pushing and punching" Well, except the kid that was swinging the crutch pretty much as hard as he could. Until I saw that video I would have agreed, but that was both vicious and cowardly.