Categorized | Editorial, Local Perspectives

For Every Action There is An Equal and Opposite Reaction

It Rocks the Core: The Sayreville Scandal

The Innocent Caught in the Fallout

The Superintendent of the Sayreville School System Dr. Richard Labbe and the Sayreville Board of Education probably had to make the most difficult decisions during their time in office. I know they along with the parents, residents, students and the school community would never have imagined that the town would have been thrust into such an unfavorable and unimaginable spotlight due to the behavior and irresponsibility of a small minority.

The whole country has been made aware of the allegations against some of the Sayreville Upperclassmen High School football players against some of the freshman players. I will not go into the details of the charges because they have been highly reported and those players that have been accused of the extreme hazing crimes have been barred from returning to school.

When push came to shove, Superintendent Labbe and the Sayreville Board of Education knew they were in-between a rock and a hard place. They knew emotions were going to run high on both sides. The toughest part of the decision was to suspend the football season for this year and possibly the next year. They knew that students who had nothing at all to do with this were going to be deeply hurt. In retrospect, we hope that this incident may be a deterrent to others. They will learn the consequences of the harm they do to others is not only going to have an effect on the victims or the perpetrators, but on their fellow students as well. This includes not only those involved in sports, but the whole town as well.

We do know about Assistant Football Coach Charles Garcia was arrested for possession of steroids. Now there is an even more difficult decision to be made about the coaching staff. We don’t know the role the coaches played or not, but something fell through the cracks where there was not proper supervision.

This is a difficult subject and either way you look at it, it is a lose-lose situation. A lot of people got hurt, but the bottom line is the ones who got hurt the most are the victims. If there was not the first initial alleged horrendous actions committed by a few, then a huge hurt suffered would not have come to fruition.

This is a domino effect which affected the whole town in the worst possible way. This is the worst consequence that could ever happen. Nationwide the town of Sayreville New Jersey has suffered a black mark. Now vigils for the victims have been taking place in the town which is a very good thing for a healing process, but it’s going to take a very long time. We are praying for all the students, parents and the town as a whole.

As you well know, we spend a lot of time talking about the Perth Amboy School System, especially the Board of Education Members, the Superintendent and their problems. But compared to what future decisions the Sayreville Board of Education and their Superintendent will be dealing with in reference to this scandal makes Perth Amboy’s problems miniscule.

C.M.

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