School, students both lose in Lourdes debate

Published: March 1, 2010

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To the editor: I am a proud Lourdes graduate, but this week I can't help but feel a sort of disappointment with events happening around my alma mater. Should the big news story coming out of Lourdes really be about the punishment of a group of kids dressing up as farmers for fun at a sporting event - a tradition which existed for years?

The Lourdes I know is above that. It may sound sugary sweet and sentimental, but I believe Lourdes truly did help me become the person I am today. I often wonder if I would be at the point in my life that I am right now had I chosen not to walk into the doors of 2001 Clinton Ave., to the school which provided me (and continues to provide students) with countless opportunities to shine - and to prepare them to walk out of its doors, armed with their diploma and with memories to last them a lifetime - "forward, then, to love and life."

Yes, there are uniforms, and, yes, students are very much held accountable for their actions, and yes, sometimes this means severe punishment (in the form of detentions and suspensions) - but since when was being held accountable for one's actions a bad thing?

I don't feel qualified to say whether or not the suspension of these students was wrong - to me that is up to the current administration at Lourdes, and, frankly, I don't see it my business to comment on it. That decision was placed in the hands of people with more authority and more know-how than I have.

But, I do I shudder at the thought that these students will take the resentment of their punishment out of the doors of the school upon their graduation, and look back on their years there with less fond memories than I do.

The thing that must happen now is to move forward, for everyone involved to get past this and to strive to become a better school because of it, to stop pointing fingers and stop playing the blame game, to become the Lourdes family that everyone connected to the school is. In this ongoing debate - a debate about something as small as what a group of students wore to a basketball game - there are two losers: the school and its students.

Sincerely,

Tim Betz

Class of 2007

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