In yet another example of insensitive, zero-tolerance approaches, school faculty members of Wichita East High in Wichita, Kansas reportedly compelled a special needs student athlete having both Down syndrome and autism to remove a varsity letter his mother bought for him. He was given instead a girl’s sweater to wear.
School officials stated he could not wear the varsity letter because he was not a member of the varsity team. Apparently they were forced to act upon this transgression because “one parent complained” and therefore no exception could be made for this student.
Nineteen year old Michael Kelley participates in extra-curricular basketball. His family bought him a varsity letter similar to what other students at the high school wear as a tribute to honor his athletic achievements.
Michael’s mother, Jolinda Kelley, says her adopted son is one of a kind and loves to play basketball. When Michael was recognized by the school for participating in the special needs team, she bought a varsity letter and sewed it to his jacket. She was shocked to learn he was asked by the school to take off the jacket.
The letter of the law seems to apply strictly to varsity letters.
Wichita East High School Principal Ken Thiessen in an interview with KSN news: “Teachers told the parents they would prefer he not wear the letter on his jacket.”
When asked if the school would consider giving a varsity letter to special needs students he replied:
Principal Ken Thiessen
“We have considered it, and our decision was no. We decided that is not appropriate in our situation because it is not a varsity level competition.”
KSN discovered this was not a district-wide policy. The high school seemed to be acting on its own accord.
Jolinda says she understands each school can make the rules, but she wants to see a change.
“It’s not just my son. It’s every student that was out there last night. It’s every student that’s there on Fridays that plays their hardest and to the best of their capability regardless what that is.”
The question remains as to why a varsity letter is such a hallowed emblem that it cannot be tarnished by having someone wearing one who is not a member of the athletic club. Free speech issues aside, how about showing some compassion or at least looking the other way? It is doubtful the majority of students themselves would act with such rigidity to Michael’s choice to wear a letterman jacket.
But if rules must be followed regarding uniforms those with special needs cannot participate in the Police Chief / Sheriff For a Day programs because those kids are not true law enforcement officers.
Now that this has hit the national news media, the administration of Wichita East High School will soon be tempest-tossed by the media storm on the horizon.
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
134 thoughts on “Student With Down Syndrome Told By Faculty He Cannot Wear Varsity Letter Jacket”
Why give him an Eagle Scout Badge, a best in show 4H blue Ribbon and a Nobel Peace Prize! The will make feel good and validate his participation? I mean what’s the big deal? These things don’t mean anything.
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Trooper York – Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize for doing nothing, surely they can just start handing it out to everyone. It will cut down on the prize money, but who cares.
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“With all the problems facing our country, this is about the 3 trillionth on the list…”
I disagree.
Self esteem ‘ribbons for everyone’ approach has resulted in a generation of young people unable to meet the challenges of the real world, which is a hard one.
The recent tech venture capital lawsuit is an example of the entitlement mentality this sort of thinking promotes.
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“Letting Michael Kelly wear a letter to celebrate his achievements in no way diminishes the value of the ‘letter’”
Same argument as gay marriage.
I argue that you are wrong, they are not the same.
We disagree because of our differing ideologies.
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Isaac “I would venture to guess that the parent that complained…”
You seem to have an unusual tendency to read minds.
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Karen S has explained very well what sports are about, Inga.
It’s a preparation for real life.
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[music]
Myyyy Boomerang wont come back!
My boomerang wont come back.
I’m the biggest disgrace to the aborigine race!
My boomerang wont come back.
I … can… Ride a kangaroo!
Chase chicks too.
But I’m the biggest disgrace to the aborigine race .. cause..
My boomerang wont come back.
Loading...
Paul, empathy is expressed in understanding how important it is to the kid to wear the letterman jacket. While they are bashing each other’s brains out on the field, they can engage in empathetic behavior in the halls of the high school.
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Inga – had you read one of my early comments you would have realized that I stated that the students were probably in support of the Down’s Syndrome child.
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Now it would be nice to hear from POGO why HE thinks high school sports are so important, more important than empathy.
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Inga – you have never been to Texas for Friday night high school football have you? Empathy has nothing to with demolishing your opponent.
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My problem with all the adulation today’s professional athletes receive is that they behave with poor sportsmanship and bad character. They act more like spoiled kids with too much scope to run amuck. That, in and of itself, is anathema to team sports, and shows that these values are falling by the wayside. We need to refocus on the character building aspects of team sports to produce a better class of athlete.
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What is the value of high school sports?
#1 It provides balance. Students who excel academically but have never participated on a team can be handicapped at succeeding in a career. In fact, universities want to see a balanced field of accomplishments, not just academics, because that is the real indicator of lifetime success. You can be smart but completely unmotivated or unable to work with others.
#2 It (is supposed to) teach good sportsmanship, honor, and character. In my son’s Little League, one of the older kids punched other players 3 TIMES during a game, ignoring repeated warnings. He was ejected from the entire league. His parents are suing the League owner, clearly oblivious to the life lesson. I learned sportsmanship riding. If any of us had a fit that we didn’t win a ribbon, or whined because the judge favored a particular family, or a competitor kept circling to block us from the judge, we were told to try harder and not fall for that trap next time. There were fair judges and biased judges (and umps and refs), but the great equalizer is that ALL players were subjected to them, so we all paid our dues. We were also taught to cheer on the other riders from our barn, and to pick ourselves up and get back on that horse. We always had a spirited cheering section after every jumping round. And my son’s dojo and Little League teach the same thing – cheer on your teammates and help them feel better if they mess up.
#3 Achievement. It teaches kids that if they work really hard, practice, and put in the hours, they will improve. Not all excellent players are born with gifted genes who never need to practice. Many have athletic ability, and they just put in the hours and hours it takes to become an excellent player. Kids should learn academic and athletic achievement both.
#4 Physical fitness and outdoor activity. Anyone who follows the news is aware that there is an obesity epidemic in the US. Kids sit on the couch and play video games all day, sometimes into their thirties. How many parents have moaned that their children don’t get outside and play anymore? In today’s world, parents no longer are even legally allowed to open their door in the morning and just see their kids back home at lunch and dinner, with no idea what they’re doing. So team sports is a way to get those kids moving. And they often stay out of trouble because they have to put in so many practice hours.
#5 Self motivation. A kid is not going to become a great player unless he’s personally motivated to do so. If his parents drag him to practice and he just dials it in, he’s not going to excel. He has to actually try, himself.
#6 Making friends. Sports is an excellent opportunity for kids, especially shy kids, to make new friends, become part of a team, and build their confidence. Performing in front of an audience (and being judged for it) is very difficult.
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Pogo
Yes you can have it both ways. Your my way or the highway routine is cute but worn out. Letting Michael Kelly wear a letter to celebrate his achievements in no way diminishes the value of the ‘letter’. In the context of the spirit of achievement it is a great achievement for the team to validate his effort. Complaining about it represents a weakness that should have been overcome long before. Supporting the complaint is mindless. There aren’t appropriate or at least allowable words. If it does in your mind then you are the diminishing factor. I believe that is what it is all about.
I would venture to guess that the parent that complained’s child is an under achiever in the athletic department. Otherwise what have they to be afraid of. Perhaps this is all about fear, the fear if Michael Kelly gets a letter then certain athletes’ achievements, or lack of, will be less valuable. I wager that the most deserving athletes on the Varsity teams have nothing to fear and would stand behind the kid wearing the letter.
Now work up a rant on Obama’s foreign policy. Read the newspaper first. You know where it reports how the Arabs are taking care of their own mess(es).
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Let the kid wear a varsity letter. With all the problems facing our country, this is about the 3 trillionth on the list of what needs attention. Kids’ sports are important for good health, fun and leadership, nothing more, but adults have become stupid and insane about it. Moms and dads, get a [grown up] life and stop living off the accomplishments of your kids.
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Pogo:
“When Michael was recognized by the school for participating in the special needs team, she bought a varsity letter and sewed it to his jacket.” It was my understanding that Michael’s mom got him the letter to honor his achievement in basketball. He actually did play the sport.
It is true that we need to give special needs kids the opportunity to work hard and be proud of achievements. Whenever possible, they need to learn how to be independent, because their parents have the same fears all of us do: “Will my kids be OK and successful after we are gone?”
This situation seemed exactly that, an opportunity for Michael to beam with pride over an accomplishment he earned, playing well on a basketball team. They didn’t have a special needs letter, so his mom gave him his own letter.
“Girls wear boyfriend’s jackets and everyone knows it is not their own.” I apply the same logic here. Everyone knows a special needs student is not really lettering in sports, and that it’s an honorary title.
I agree with you that empty, continuous praise is not really encouragement, and it’s detrimental to success in life that after a certain age, all kids win a trophy just for showing up. But I disagree with you in that I do not think that applies here.
Here is another problem that keeps parents of special needs kids awake at night. When they are kids, they often get the support of the community and their classmates. But where is that support system when they are special needs adults? No one is making them honorary members of any teams or fire departments. Are they going to be OK, and succeed after their parents are gone and they’re all grown up?
That’s why this story of the restaurant owner with Down’s syndrome is so moving. His parents instilled in him the life skills necessary to thrive, and boy, did he run with that.
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As Karen said, there is no one in the school that thinks this special needs kid earned the letter from being a crack athlete on the high school varsity team. It is an act of kindness to allow kids like him to have a bit of joy in high school, where kids can be very cruel. It takes nothing away from anyone’s accomplishments and it’s obvious it not ‘stolen valor’.
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And yes, I agree with you that if the Varsity team is fine with it, we should be, too.
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Trooperyork:
“But a Varsity Letter does mean something.” Yes, it is an enormous achievement, and I support this rule to prevent kids from pretending they earned a Letter.
But for special needs kids, it is obvious it is an honorary gift, and they are not sneaking around trying to steal glory. It is intuitively obvious that he’s not “really” lettering in sports. As Darren pointed out, it is similar to when cops make a special needs child an honorary deputy. Or when a pro football teams adopts a special needs or terminally ill child as a “player” with his very own helmet and jersey. No one really thinks they are pretending to be a police officer or pro football player, and it does not diminish the accomplishments or standards of the real thing.
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I think it would be wonderful if the varsity players and all the other students at the school presented this boy with a letter for his jacket. And if the school gives him any grief about it, every single athlete should boycott all games until they back down. Let’s see if the school is willing to make a stand on this misguided zero tolerance rule.
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Well Pogo, why don’t you explain to everyone why high school sports are so very important. More important than giving a special needs kid some joy. Does it really take away from the accomplishment of the athletes? Seriously?
Loading...
In which Inga persistently misunderstands the purpose of high school sports.
Hint: It ain’t the sports, or the victory.
Loading...
In which Pogo gives high school sports MUCH too much importance. It’s time we stopped worshipping athletes. Some of these people grow up to be selfish troubled people because of the special treatment they received n high school and especially in college, very few of them get to be professional athletes. The lesson these high school athletes will learn in empathy is far more precious than the adoration of fellow high schoolers.
“It’s not just my son. It’s every student that was out there last night. It’s every student that’s there on Fridays that plays their hardest and to the best of their capability regardless what that is.”
Why give him an Eagle Scout Badge, a best in show 4H blue Ribbon and a Nobel Peace Prize! The will make feel good and validate his participation? I mean what’s the big deal? These things don’t mean anything.
Trooper York – Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize for doing nothing, surely they can just start handing it out to everyone. It will cut down on the prize money, but who cares.
“With all the problems facing our country, this is about the 3 trillionth on the list…”
I disagree.
Self esteem ‘ribbons for everyone’ approach has resulted in a generation of young people unable to meet the challenges of the real world, which is a hard one.
The recent tech venture capital lawsuit is an example of the entitlement mentality this sort of thinking promotes.
“Letting Michael Kelly wear a letter to celebrate his achievements in no way diminishes the value of the ‘letter’”
Same argument as gay marriage.
I argue that you are wrong, they are not the same.
We disagree because of our differing ideologies.
Isaac “I would venture to guess that the parent that complained…”
You seem to have an unusual tendency to read minds.
Karen S has explained very well what sports are about, Inga.
It’s a preparation for real life.
[music]
Myyyy Boomerang wont come back!
My boomerang wont come back.
I’m the biggest disgrace to the aborigine race!
My boomerang wont come back.
I … can… Ride a kangaroo!
Chase chicks too.
But I’m the biggest disgrace to the aborigine race .. cause..
My boomerang wont come back.
Paul, empathy is expressed in understanding how important it is to the kid to wear the letterman jacket. While they are bashing each other’s brains out on the field, they can engage in empathetic behavior in the halls of the high school.
Inga – had you read one of my early comments you would have realized that I stated that the students were probably in support of the Down’s Syndrome child.
Now it would be nice to hear from POGO why HE thinks high school sports are so important, more important than empathy.
Inga – you have never been to Texas for Friday night high school football have you? Empathy has nothing to with demolishing your opponent.
My problem with all the adulation today’s professional athletes receive is that they behave with poor sportsmanship and bad character. They act more like spoiled kids with too much scope to run amuck. That, in and of itself, is anathema to team sports, and shows that these values are falling by the wayside. We need to refocus on the character building aspects of team sports to produce a better class of athlete.
What is the value of high school sports?
#1 It provides balance. Students who excel academically but have never participated on a team can be handicapped at succeeding in a career. In fact, universities want to see a balanced field of accomplishments, not just academics, because that is the real indicator of lifetime success. You can be smart but completely unmotivated or unable to work with others.
#2 It (is supposed to) teach good sportsmanship, honor, and character. In my son’s Little League, one of the older kids punched other players 3 TIMES during a game, ignoring repeated warnings. He was ejected from the entire league. His parents are suing the League owner, clearly oblivious to the life lesson. I learned sportsmanship riding. If any of us had a fit that we didn’t win a ribbon, or whined because the judge favored a particular family, or a competitor kept circling to block us from the judge, we were told to try harder and not fall for that trap next time. There were fair judges and biased judges (and umps and refs), but the great equalizer is that ALL players were subjected to them, so we all paid our dues. We were also taught to cheer on the other riders from our barn, and to pick ourselves up and get back on that horse. We always had a spirited cheering section after every jumping round. And my son’s dojo and Little League teach the same thing – cheer on your teammates and help them feel better if they mess up.
#3 Achievement. It teaches kids that if they work really hard, practice, and put in the hours, they will improve. Not all excellent players are born with gifted genes who never need to practice. Many have athletic ability, and they just put in the hours and hours it takes to become an excellent player. Kids should learn academic and athletic achievement both.
#4 Physical fitness and outdoor activity. Anyone who follows the news is aware that there is an obesity epidemic in the US. Kids sit on the couch and play video games all day, sometimes into their thirties. How many parents have moaned that their children don’t get outside and play anymore? In today’s world, parents no longer are even legally allowed to open their door in the morning and just see their kids back home at lunch and dinner, with no idea what they’re doing. So team sports is a way to get those kids moving. And they often stay out of trouble because they have to put in so many practice hours.
#5 Self motivation. A kid is not going to become a great player unless he’s personally motivated to do so. If his parents drag him to practice and he just dials it in, he’s not going to excel. He has to actually try, himself.
#6 Making friends. Sports is an excellent opportunity for kids, especially shy kids, to make new friends, become part of a team, and build their confidence. Performing in front of an audience (and being judged for it) is very difficult.
Pogo
Yes you can have it both ways. Your my way or the highway routine is cute but worn out. Letting Michael Kelly wear a letter to celebrate his achievements in no way diminishes the value of the ‘letter’. In the context of the spirit of achievement it is a great achievement for the team to validate his effort. Complaining about it represents a weakness that should have been overcome long before. Supporting the complaint is mindless. There aren’t appropriate or at least allowable words. If it does in your mind then you are the diminishing factor. I believe that is what it is all about.
I would venture to guess that the parent that complained’s child is an under achiever in the athletic department. Otherwise what have they to be afraid of. Perhaps this is all about fear, the fear if Michael Kelly gets a letter then certain athletes’ achievements, or lack of, will be less valuable. I wager that the most deserving athletes on the Varsity teams have nothing to fear and would stand behind the kid wearing the letter.
Now work up a rant on Obama’s foreign policy. Read the newspaper first. You know where it reports how the Arabs are taking care of their own mess(es).
Let the kid wear a varsity letter. With all the problems facing our country, this is about the 3 trillionth on the list of what needs attention. Kids’ sports are important for good health, fun and leadership, nothing more, but adults have become stupid and insane about it. Moms and dads, get a [grown up] life and stop living off the accomplishments of your kids.
Pogo:
“When Michael was recognized by the school for participating in the special needs team, she bought a varsity letter and sewed it to his jacket.” It was my understanding that Michael’s mom got him the letter to honor his achievement in basketball. He actually did play the sport.
It is true that we need to give special needs kids the opportunity to work hard and be proud of achievements. Whenever possible, they need to learn how to be independent, because their parents have the same fears all of us do: “Will my kids be OK and successful after we are gone?”
This situation seemed exactly that, an opportunity for Michael to beam with pride over an accomplishment he earned, playing well on a basketball team. They didn’t have a special needs letter, so his mom gave him his own letter.
“Girls wear boyfriend’s jackets and everyone knows it is not their own.” I apply the same logic here. Everyone knows a special needs student is not really lettering in sports, and that it’s an honorary title.
I agree with you that empty, continuous praise is not really encouragement, and it’s detrimental to success in life that after a certain age, all kids win a trophy just for showing up. But I disagree with you in that I do not think that applies here.
Here is another problem that keeps parents of special needs kids awake at night. When they are kids, they often get the support of the community and their classmates. But where is that support system when they are special needs adults? No one is making them honorary members of any teams or fire departments. Are they going to be OK, and succeed after their parents are gone and they’re all grown up?
That’s why this story of the restaurant owner with Down’s syndrome is so moving. His parents instilled in him the life skills necessary to thrive, and boy, did he run with that.
As Karen said, there is no one in the school that thinks this special needs kid earned the letter from being a crack athlete on the high school varsity team. It is an act of kindness to allow kids like him to have a bit of joy in high school, where kids can be very cruel. It takes nothing away from anyone’s accomplishments and it’s obvious it not ‘stolen valor’.
And yes, I agree with you that if the Varsity team is fine with it, we should be, too.
Trooperyork:
“But a Varsity Letter does mean something.” Yes, it is an enormous achievement, and I support this rule to prevent kids from pretending they earned a Letter.
But for special needs kids, it is obvious it is an honorary gift, and they are not sneaking around trying to steal glory. It is intuitively obvious that he’s not “really” lettering in sports. As Darren pointed out, it is similar to when cops make a special needs child an honorary deputy. Or when a pro football teams adopts a special needs or terminally ill child as a “player” with his very own helmet and jersey. No one really thinks they are pretending to be a police officer or pro football player, and it does not diminish the accomplishments or standards of the real thing.
I think it would be wonderful if the varsity players and all the other students at the school presented this boy with a letter for his jacket. And if the school gives him any grief about it, every single athlete should boycott all games until they back down. Let’s see if the school is willing to make a stand on this misguided zero tolerance rule.
Well Pogo, why don’t you explain to everyone why high school sports are so very important. More important than giving a special needs kid some joy. Does it really take away from the accomplishment of the athletes? Seriously?
In which Inga persistently misunderstands the purpose of high school sports.
Hint: It ain’t the sports, or the victory.
In which Pogo gives high school sports MUCH too much importance. It’s time we stopped worshipping athletes. Some of these people grow up to be selfish troubled people because of the special treatment they received n high school and especially in college, very few of them get to be professional athletes. The lesson these high school athletes will learn in empathy is far more precious than the adoration of fellow high schoolers.