Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Monday
Evening QB
THE baseball postseason is upon us. University of Hawaii and NFL football is in full swing. Local prep football is headed toward the playoffs. Why write
about Moanalua?And the Star-Bulletin devotes a huge chunk of its sports section today to what some readers might see as an old story about an internal squabble at Moanalua High School that doesn't affect them.
They'd be wrong to view it that way, and here's why:
Plain and simple, when parents feel school is not a safe environment for their children, it's news.
And when allegations come to our attention of school officials turning deaf ears to complaints of students being victimized, it can't be ignored.
Believe me, we'd much rather spend our resources covering sports and the interesting personalities who play them, but every now and then something happens that is more important than who scored the most points in a game.
In this case, it's trying to unravel what has really gone wrong at Moanalua, what has caused a rift between some players and parents of players on the varsity and junior varsity football teams -- a chasm that has caused allegations of theft, extortion and assault at school. The fact that four varsity football players have been suspended from school and kicked off the team has almost become a sidelight to a deeper issue.
On Sept. 28, Donald Coleman, father of a junior varsity football player at Moanalua, called us, complaining that his son had personal items taken from him by varsity players, items returned to him for money.
According to Coleman, this was the result of an out-of-control system of fines, in which varsity players were told by coaches to pick up equipment left unattended by JV players, who were then fined for their return.
If the allegations are true, it became much more than that, and much more sinister.
Two more parents called, and we decided to attend a meeting that night at the school, where supposedly the parents would have things explained to them by coaches and other officials.
But many parents left unsatisfied. There weren't a whole lot of solid answers provided to questions like these:
How involved were coaches and other school officials in the (illegal) fine system?
What will be done to eliminate what some parents are describing as an air of intimidation at the school?
Are the allegations of what parents call theft and extortion true?
AFTER the initial report the next day, reporter Ben Henry picked up the story. It was agreed that extensive follow-up was needed, because of the seriousness of the allegations and questions left unanswered.
In the interest of fairness, every opportunity possible was given to all involved to state their side of the story -- although we did not interview students.
This is more about the adults who are responsible for them -- and if the allegations are true, these children have been let down by the educational system that is supposed to help nurture them.
Yes, high school football is a tough game, where responsibility is all-important.
But you don't teach a kid responsibility through a kangaroo court, where he has to give up his lunch money to get his football equipment -- or his Walkman -- back.
You make him run laps, you make him do pushups.
Locker room culture has different rules than the outside, and the young and vulnerable aren't always protected.
But last we checked, a high school locker room was still part of the school.
Dave Reardon, who covered sports in Hawaii from 1977 to 1998,
moved to the the Gainesville Sun, then returned to
the Star-Bulletin in Jan. 2000.
E-mail dreardon@starbulletin.com