The coach of a high school girl’s basketball team was suspended by the school district for two games because he did not let the bench-warmers into the game until the third quarter.
Historically, this is the post-game talk by the losing team’s coach: “It’s not about winning. It’s about how you play the game.” Not this time.
There are mismatches in life. As long as people play by the rules, those with no stake in the outcome should butt out.
But the people who run America’s public schools don’t see it this way. They see life as a giant chessboard in which self-esteem is important . . . for losers. Self-esteem must be protected.
The girls on the losing team should not be made to feel too badly. It’s the job of the school district to guarantee this. “There, there. You’re not as incompetent as it looks.”
So, the district got national attention . . . not for the score, but for the suspension.
“We are really emphasizing that we want them to pursue victory with honor, and that means playing the game with dignity, regardless of the outcome of the game,” San Bernardino Unified School District official Maria Garcia said.
The welfare state outlook begins early in the educational system. It never ends.
When education is more about self-esteem than performance, then educational outcomes reflect the subsidies.
Here are the words of one of the mothers of the victorious team’s members.
“I feel it’s very wrong. I felt like, what are you teaching these kids? To lose and not be rewarded,” parent Martha Vodinez said. “Are you teaching them to be a loser?”
She got the message. That is exactly what they are teaching.
