First off, Smokin’ Joe Frazier was a man. He wasn’t the smartest, didn’t have the gift of great one-liners, and wasn’t the prettiest either. But the man would fight you, and keep coming forward, and not understand when someone was bigger and stronger so that you might need a better fight plan. I have nothing but the ultimate respect for him, though, because he was a grinder, and he wore his heart on his sleeve. Sadly, after today’s news, all I can write is Rest in Peace, Joe Frazier, and I mean no disrespect with the following, a quote I will always remember.
The news out of Torrance today made me think of the quote. The Torrance High wrestling coach, Thomas Snider, was found guilty of molesting 25 kids. He was found to have male teen porn on his hard drive, and admitted to nude checks of athletes and their private parts to check for diseases, as if they were commonplace in wrestling and coaching. Other area wrestling coaches did not know of this “checking” practice. There are articles everywhere, and I will attach one at the end of this post.
First off, you have 25 kids in this lawsuit. Who knows how many there actually were? It’s a terrible situation for them because it happened then and is being brought up again now. I can’t put myself in their shoes, but it has to be awful.
And, it’s a black eye for our community and district. Things have happened at North High that weren’t discussed like they should have been, and the papers and local outlets did not report to the community either. This Torrance High story allegedly started at another school in the district, at the coach’s previous school, where a 33-yr-old man has now made claims against Snider for behavior twenty years ago. Did anyone know back then? How many teachers, administrators, or anyone else might have known that something was happening? And was it discussed? I have no idea, but, if it had been, maybe the situation would have ended there and spared 25 kids.
But this story is in the general media. It will probably make the TV news tonight.
It is Paterno and Sandusky at Penn State with the argument of knowing/not knowing? Was the communication level similar to our own school’s, where people knew things for years but hoped that the behaviors would change? I have no idea how far it goes up the corporate ladder of Torrance High and our district.
On every mission statement of every school in the world, though, is the term safe. North High’s reads “All members of the North High School community are committed to providing a safe, orderly and supportive environment where students learn to become effective communicators, responsible citizens and creative, complex thinkers.” Our faculty often nit-picks over the language at the end, but no one ever suggests a school should not be safe. “Safe” just left the building here.
These will be dark days. It doesn’t end here. How much does each kid get? There are 25 of them. How does this affect people in our district, and our budgets from here on out? Will teachers and administrators in our district be fired because of this? I have no idea. Until today, I knew of the case, but did not know the trial had started or that the jury was deliberating. It’s not discussed, and we too often don’t address what ought to be addressed.
Kids deserve better. Parents entrust their kids to us because they feel we offer a safe place. I respect so many of the people on our campus that help make it a safe place for students, but there are stories we just don’t know. And we should.
With no disrespect to the man himself, it’s still stuck in my head. Down goes Frazier.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20161013/torrance-wrestling-coach-found-guilty-of-molesting-25-boys