Striking in The Weeds

Introduction

Whether part of a governing authority or someone who submits to one, rules are something that must be respected to allow whoever’s in charge to properly do their job. However, often rules aren’t subjective enough, stopping the best decision regarding the situation to be taken, resulting in what is known to the public eye, as unfair ruling. To avoid unfair ruling and to do what is right and what will benefit the most people, you must consider things like, in this case, age, maturity and potential. Isaacson is a young very talented athlete with much potential but he might not be near the pinnacle of his maturity. In Isacsson case, I strongly believe that as a soccer coach and an academic vice-principal of a high school I should bend the rules to allow Isacsson to play in the finals and be rewarded for all of the hard work he put into the sport to become the skillful player that he his, which is, in my view, the best decision for him and the rest of the educational institution that he is part of. I believe that Isaacson should be allowed to play the final of the national tournament and that he should face disciplinary actions for what he did, but not in a conventional way so that no one that was not implicated in the incident is negatively affected by Michael’s actions and that Michael’s career as a pro soccer player isn’t ruined by a mistake made in the young years of his life. The whole of my opinion on the matter will be expressed through 2 points, justifying why Isacsson shouldn’t face standard disciplinary actions because of this drug issue. The first point I will be covering is how mistakes are made by all and that there are other ways of disciplining someone than by suspending them and possibly ruining their very promising career as a professional soccer player which will be the result of his suspension. The second point I will be covering ishow the suspension of Mikael will be an opportunity missed for the educational institution he is part of to gain prestige and other things that may be deemed important to such institutions for their future.

Mistakes are Committed by All

Major mistakes can be the turning point in anyone’s life for the better or for the worse, depending if they learn from it or not. Mistakes are made by all but it’s the fact that can learn from them that makes them more forgivable. Isaacson is a young soccer player with a very promising career as a future professional soccer player, being scouted by professional teams such as Real Madrid and Arsenal. In Michael’s case, drugs were found in his belongings which indicated that they might be his but he hasn’t denied that they were. The school Isaacson is part of has a strict O tolerance policy on drug use or possession so the discovery of the contents in his bag could be very problematic for his current self and his future career. The consequences of the discovery of the drugs in his belongings could lead to an immediate suspension and since the discovery was made the day before the final of anation soccer tournament he was competing in, immediate disciplinary action could be catastrophic for Isaacson’s sports career! If Michael is suspended from his school and misses the national tournament final, he will lose the opportunity to represent his school being the very talented player that he is. Imagine if you were in his place, working several years of your life to acquire the skills that you’ve used to become the best player in your team and in an instant, you lose it all. Winning a national tournament while being the top scorer of your team can open a lot of doors for a place on a pro soccer team in the future. But missing a final in a national tournament because of drug use or possession could be damaging beyond imagination. In the world outside your education and your life as minor no one wants to associate with someone who consumes drugs or deals with illegal substances such as marijuana. If the incident is marked on either his disciplinary school record or even hiscriminal record, his life as a pro soccer player will essentially become impossible to attain. It would be absolutely cruel to suspend a teenagerin these circumstances,with so much talent, especially considering he didn’t let the drugsaffect his school life or his sports life.

I agree with the notion that action should be taken on the matter but I also believe that the standard disciplinary action suggested is way to harsh considering what this student has accomplished as a soccer player of his school team. Despite not agreeing with the conventional consequences that were going to be applied to Michael and be very hurtful to him, I still believe that disciplinary action should be taken so that it is very clear to Michael that what he was doing was very derived from what was expected from him. So instead of suspending Michael and making him miss the nation tournament I believe that less harsh disciplinary action should be taken after the tournament allowing him to be with the team in any sports related events in the near future without compromising his very promisingcareer as a professional soccer player. I believe that appropriate disciplinary action for in this case should range from a meetup between the school’s principal and Michael’s parents, to discuss the consequences that would be applied at home,and making him stay after school to help the teachers do their work for a certain number of weeks. Both of these consequences will allow Michael to evolve as a soccer player without compromising the possibilities of him becoming what he wants in the future. Besides, he is just a teenager who still has much to learn about life, so it would be a shame if many of his dreams and ambitions were crushed by this one minor incident, a mistake that he made in his childhood, a part of life where mistakes need to be made to learn.

Prestige Equals Livelihood

As already mentioned, suspending Isaacson from the school’s soccer team, would not be advantageous for him or his future. This is the true but in the end, if a suspension is carried out, the school will miss a huge opportunity to add to the school’s prestige and reputation. So really, a suspension wouldn’t help anyone and would lead to unwanted consequences for Isaacson and the school he is part of. Since in Canada there are only 15,500 schools to serve nearly 5. 35 million students, being known as the school who taught and trained a professional soccer player who made it to the world’s major soccer leagues can be a major perk for them. With few schools to deal with so many students, with different academic and sports relatedneeds, the recognition of one of your student’s outstanding performance with your school and it’s ressources nationwide can secure the school’s livelihood throughout the years. You see, people are attracted to excellence and to who excels and if a school is represented by excellence theywon’t have a shortage of parents who want their children to acquire the skills that they don’t currently have. For example Harvard University in the U. S. , has the reputation of teaching the most influential people on the planet. A few examples of such people are Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates. All three of these Harvard alumni are known by millions worldwide, many of which are people they have affected directly or indirectly. This same institution, this year had nearly 43 000 applicants which is an amazing statistic considering that only 1974 of those students have been accepted. This shows us that many people want to apply to a school with such prestige despite discouraging factors like low admission rate and small chances of being accepted into that school. to be associated with those who represent academic achievement and excellence. Because of Harvard’s current reputation, it won’t be closing anytime soon because of a lack of students enrolled in the institution. If a school is public or private having attention because a student from your institution became a famous and successful person can benefit them beyond imagination. Firstly,prestige in a schoolwill allow the school to operate with more pride and a more profound identity allowing it to dedicate its resources to what it knows will allow students to evolve in a better way in that particular learning environment. Secondly, more prestige will allow the students who graduate from that school to have better chances at getting involved ina field of study that their school specializes in. In this case it could be sports and leadership.

A student is better off applying for a sports related program from a school that has a reputation of teaching and training sports athletes than any from any other school that is not recognized in such a way. All of these benefits could advantage the school Michael is part of over the other schools of the country if they let Michael play the final and don't make a big fuss about the incident involving the drugs. For that particular school, it will certainly be the first but maybe not the last time they get a chance to deal with a future sports star meaning that the stakes of the decision they will have to make are going to be high. If they apply standard disciplinary actions immediately, which would involve the suspension of Michael andan indefinite suspension from all extra-curricular activities, the school’s soccer team risks to lose the national tournament given that Michael is the best player of the team. On the other hand, if Michael is allowed to play the final of the national tournament the team runs great chances of actually winning because of the prodigy’s presence. And when that happens Michael’s future as a professional soccer player will almost be assured because of his superiority in the game while playing and the school will be granted all of the benefits that I’ve mentioned earlier related to prestige. And even if Michael doesn’t bring his team to winning the final, the fact that he participated and was so successful all season will be enough to ensure his role in soccer team in a league superior to his own in the future.

End Result

Even though there may be some negative consequences to the coach's lack of disciplinary action, like the continuation of drug consumption or use on Isaacson’s side, and the small but very unlikely chance that the school is publicly criticized for not being harsh enough on its students, I strongly believe that Michael Isaacson should be given a second chance to learn from his mistakes. There are so many examples of famous and successful people who failed, made mistakes, evolved from their mistakes and made millions of dollars doing so. If Isaacson is given a second chance he will at least have the opportunity to attempt to change who he is for the better. Some examples of people who managed to learn from their mistakes and strive include Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, J. K. Rowling and Jay Z. If Michael is given a second chance to succeed while respecting the school’s rules and regulations, he could possibly, one day have his name on the lists of famous personalities who got a second chance and achieved success evolving from their mistakes, creating an ever lasting positive vision of the high school that he attended in his years of youth that gave him the opportunity to continue to exploit his talents despite the mistakes that he’s made in the pasts.