posted by Mike Madison at 10:50 AM /
The comments here about the basketball incident remind me of a bigger theme (which is good, because otherwise someone might change the topic to the unpublicized circumstances of the Mt. Lebanon girls' soccer coach leaving to take over the Peters team, and that's a comment thread I don't want to moderate).
The theme is something that runs through various events in Mt. Lebanon over the last couple of years: the student misbehavior/"character" things; the TASER incident involving the Carusos; even the TIF proposal for the Washington Park project. Word on the grapevine has it that the Mt. Lebanon Municipality is less than thrilled by some of the conversations and comments on this blog (notice Blog Lebo recently in Mt. Lebanon Magazine? Me neither.), so it even extends to the blogosphere. It's something that isn't unique to Mt. Lebanon, and it's not new to any of us, but I watch out for it as I watch the town because it rarely comes out into the open.
I'll call the topic "authority and priorities."
When should we -- citizens, parents, children, students -- defer to authority *simply because it is the authority.* Authority figures -- government officials, church leaders, teachers, parents, coaches, police officers, judges, and so on -- often act wisely, but sometimes they act stupidly, or selfishly, or out of ignorance. When an authority figure acts foolishly, what's the best remedy? Publicity? Appropriation of power? Resistance? Acceptance? Revenge? None of the above?
Context is everything. No solution is right for all circumstances. But how the question of authority is handled, or at least how the question of authority is debated, illustrates something important about the community's priorities. Do you think that the basketball drinking incident, and any possible discipline, should have been handled by the coach and his players inn face-to-face discussions and not publicized via email or in the media? That judgment reflects one sense of community priorities, and it says something about the importance of submitting to the coach's authority. Do you think that media publicity was legitimate and that second-guessing the coach's judgment is likewise fair? A different set of priorities emerges, and something else about authority. You can run the same set of questions through all kinds of issues percolating in town. What should the high school principal have done about the top-25 list? Should the police department release the TASER video? Should the school district support the TIF proposal? What is the responsibility of parents who make alcohol available to their teenagers and their friends? The basketball team is only one, recent example.
Why bother pointing this out? Because I think that it's important to keep in mind that despite the fact that the community values at Mt. Lebanon's foundation aren't always shared quite as widely or as deeply as we imagine. That's neither good nor bad, and it doesn't detract from the fact that for most residents, Mt. Lebanon is an extremely pleasant place to live, at least so long as people respect the fact that the town does house a diverse array of value-sets. (I'm also not suggesting that Mt. Lebanon is meaningfully diverse in any racial or ethnic sense.) That diversity just is what it is, as Gene Collier might say, and I think that it explains a lot of the differences of opinion that Joe and I and Anonymous (all of you, including the alleged wackos ;-) experience here.
UPDATED (3:10 p.m.): The timing couldn't be better: I just came across this illustrative story about authority and obedience -- in a different school district. Three 11th graders, all girls, were suspended for saying the word "vagina" during an in-school recitation of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. The basis for the discipline? There was nothing wrong with the word itself; instead, the girls knowing violated the principal's pre-performance edict that they not use it, though he allowed them to perform the piece.
The theme is something that runs through various events in Mt. Lebanon over the last couple of years: the student misbehavior/"character" things; the TASER incident involving the Carusos; even the TIF proposal for the Washington Park project. Word on the grapevine has it that the Mt. Lebanon Municipality is less than thrilled by some of the conversations and comments on this blog (notice Blog Lebo recently in Mt. Lebanon Magazine? Me neither.), so it even extends to the blogosphere. It's something that isn't unique to Mt. Lebanon, and it's not new to any of us, but I watch out for it as I watch the town because it rarely comes out into the open.
I'll call the topic "authority and priorities."
When should we -- citizens, parents, children, students -- defer to authority *simply because it is the authority.* Authority figures -- government officials, church leaders, teachers, parents, coaches, police officers, judges, and so on -- often act wisely, but sometimes they act stupidly, or selfishly, or out of ignorance. When an authority figure acts foolishly, what's the best remedy? Publicity? Appropriation of power? Resistance? Acceptance? Revenge? None of the above?
Context is everything. No solution is right for all circumstances. But how the question of authority is handled, or at least how the question of authority is debated, illustrates something important about the community's priorities. Do you think that the basketball drinking incident, and any possible discipline, should have been handled by the coach and his players inn face-to-face discussions and not publicized via email or in the media? That judgment reflects one sense of community priorities, and it says something about the importance of submitting to the coach's authority. Do you think that media publicity was legitimate and that second-guessing the coach's judgment is likewise fair? A different set of priorities emerges, and something else about authority. You can run the same set of questions through all kinds of issues percolating in town. What should the high school principal have done about the top-25 list? Should the police department release the TASER video? Should the school district support the TIF proposal? What is the responsibility of parents who make alcohol available to their teenagers and their friends? The basketball team is only one, recent example.
Why bother pointing this out? Because I think that it's important to keep in mind that despite the fact that the community values at Mt. Lebanon's foundation aren't always shared quite as widely or as deeply as we imagine. That's neither good nor bad, and it doesn't detract from the fact that for most residents, Mt. Lebanon is an extremely pleasant place to live, at least so long as people respect the fact that the town does house a diverse array of value-sets. (I'm also not suggesting that Mt. Lebanon is meaningfully diverse in any racial or ethnic sense.) That diversity just is what it is, as Gene Collier might say, and I think that it explains a lot of the differences of opinion that Joe and I and Anonymous (all of you, including the alleged wackos ;-) experience here.
UPDATED (3:10 p.m.): The timing couldn't be better: I just came across this illustrative story about authority and obedience -- in a different school district. Three 11th graders, all girls, were suspended for saying the word "vagina" during an in-school recitation of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. The basis for the discipline? There was nothing wrong with the word itself; instead, the girls knowing violated the principal's pre-performance edict that they not use it, though he allowed them to perform the piece.
Labels: character education, municipality, school district, sports
8 Comments:
I've thought about this before. People who live outside of Lebo seem to love any bad publicity that Lebo gets. And I definitely think the publicity is mostly unfair, and it is usually because of our reputation as being a great school district. Just like how people love hearing about CEO's going to jail.
When we hear about people being arrested, isn't it entirely possible that you hear more about crime in Lebo because we have more police and are very strict on it? We always hear about people getting caught. Maybe in other places they get away with it.
When we hear about top 25 lists, and underage drinking, do you really think those only happen in Mt. Lebanon. (I grew up outside of Mt. Lebanon, and we had top 20 lists and drank underage).
In reality, it says a lot when our district gets this much publicity. Maybe it is part jealously from people who don't live here. Maybe it makes them feel better that they chose the bigger house somewhere else at the expense of their childrens education....
Just some random Thursday thoughts.
Mike,
The world is a fishbowl anymore. With 24 hour news, the internet and BlogLebo. People that deal with the public need to recognize this.
We are where we are because the authority figures are measurably unresponsive. What people want are appropriate responses. Even if they are invisible, which in most cases they should be. People just need to be confident that the right thing will be done.
Not enough people have leaned the Tylenol lesson (I Can't remember the company.)
I guess what I am trying to say: There ain't no stinkin trust. Without trust it is very hard to have respect for authority. Respect must be earned, it does not come with the position. This is not 1950.
I think you'd have to look long and hard before you find any negative comments in Mt. Lebanon Magazine at all. It's full of fluff. On the rare occasion it covers a serious issue, you're likely to only find the perspectives of city leaders. I haven't seen many "anti-TIF" opinions in there (for example).
Why does this matter? The citizens of Mt. Lebanon deserve to know and understand what's going on in their city. The city magazine isn't going to report the news. The city website isn't much better. It's sad, but we have to rely on the occasional Post-Gazette article to learn what's going on around us.
But actually having a public discussion about the common problems confronting MtL is more trouble then its worth. After all, having a "pros and cons" section of the magazine would make the jobs of our commissioners more difficult.
I think that the school board finally headed some of these concerns with the creation of the HS renovation blog. It's a great first step, but the rest of the city has a long way to go...
"unpublicized circumstances of the Mt. Lebanon girls' soccer coach leaving to take over the Peters team"...
Hey - why wouldn't you want to talk about a coach with a major conflict of interest, who was totally biased towards the players in his outside club team, in which he has a personal investment?
Precisely because the issue *didn't* make the papers, so all I've heard is gossip, in the form of both strongly worded messages of support for the coach (and complaints about agenda-driven parents meddling with the program), and criticism of how the team was run. To my ears, sentiment is about evenly divided. If one of the local papers writes this up, then it's fair game here. Until then, I'd rather not referee what sounds (now, and to me) like mudslinging -- on both sides.
Matthew - the exception that proves the rule, perhaps, is Keith Mulvihill's anti-TIF sentiment expressed in this month's Commissioner's Report. I agree that in general though, there's precious little debate in the magazine.
I'm not sure how to read your remark though. Are you saying that the commissioners wouldn't approve of a "pros and cons" because they don't want the exposure to critique? Or that we shouldn't have such a thing at all? Because I completely disagree with the notion that critical commentary negatively affects government.
If anything, our elected officials should have an expectation that the people's right to speak freely will expose them to public criticism. If they still live in a world where the elite are unquestionable in their exercise of power, then they missed the point of that whole revolution thing we had a couple hundred years ago.
Witting or not, you own the repercussions of your actions, or your lack thereof. Boy, that yoke of responsibility just don't get any lighter.
I think it's easy to forget that in a position of public service, you are the servant. Like it or not, you acknowledge the will of the people, or they vote your ass out. Public criticism is the only other check the masses have on elected authority. Expect them to use it, and act accordingly.
By golly Mike, the incident in the NY article you cite is serendipitous, but light years different from our recent events because...
...the NY Principal made his/her expectations and repercussions very clear to the students. Hallelujah! I disagree with the Principal's stand on the use of the word vagina, but applaud any parent, teacher, administrator, or authority figure who actually states expectations, outlines consequences for transgressions and follows through with the measures.
Sorry this is veering from your topic, but this clarity is exactly what we're missing in the School District. My kids have signed the Athlete's Honor Code for 4 years at the high school, where among other things, they have pledged to not use substances. When they sign they acknowledge that any transgression will be accompanied by a punishment. I have foolishly believed that pledge had some meaning. Then I read Coach David's interview and learned that he's not allowed to punish players for underage drinking, drug use...????? What the ___? I'm saving my ink next year and not signing the thing. Anonymous Mom of 3
Anon mommy of 3... i suggest you read this article. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07061/766267-51.stm
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