Civility needed

To the Editor,

Student activities are designed to teach life lessons: teamwork, perseverance, respect, and integrity. 

In the past couple years a few adults on the sidelines have forgotten those very principles. Increasingly, parents are crossing the line, turning games and activities meant to build character into battlegrounds of poor behavior. The most troubling trend of all? Grown adults verbally attacking children with unfounded accusations.

Let’s be clear: it is absolutely unacceptable for adults to target young student activity participants or athletes — whether it’s yelling from the stands, disrupting their meetings, questioning their integrity, or making unfounded claims about their conduct. Children deserve encouragement and fair play, not to be humiliated or accused by those who should be setting an example.

When adults lose their composure, they teach kids that winning matters more than decency, that accusations can replace evidence, that their family holds no value for empathy or kindness, and that anger trumps accountability. That is not the kind of “lesson” any child should learn. The emotional damage caused by an adult’s outburst or false allegation can linger far beyond that meeting or competition. 

Because we saw a trend starting with this behavior toward both staff and students a couple years ago, the Weston County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees passed a district Communication Policy (KBD) designed to allow time for tempers to cool, and to protect our students and staff from unnecessary hostility and threats. 

Sadly there have been a number of such incidents in the past month. The ramifications of violating the policy range from a letter advising the offender they have violated the policy, to being banned from district property for up to
six months. 

Adults must remember their role: to support, to guide, and to demonstrate respect — even in the heat of competition. Being a good advocate isn’t about staying silent when you disagree, it’s about responding with dignity and restraint. Please do not be the adult who attacks children; please do not be the parent who is not allowed to watch their own child’s activities because of how you treated other people’s children in public. 

Communities need to reclaim the spirit of youth activities. That means holding adults to a higher standard, enforcing codes of conduct, and reminding everyone that these activities and sports belong to the kids — not the parents or fans in the stands. Take a breath, and enjoy the limited number of years you get to watch your child or grandchild participate. Do not be the reason kids look back in shame and disappointment because of how an adult acted. 

At the end of the day, no championship, trophy, or scoreboard is worth sacrificing a child’s confidence or character. The real victory comes when adults act like the role models young people need them to be. Let’s all help each other be those role models. 

The Communications Policy is available at this link: 4.files.edl.io/0937/11/14/23/164200-0af93741-beb4-4e25-88e2-e5191b5132f6.pdf.