Idiocy: School board bans Virignia HS xc runners from running on city streets

esesse wrote:

truth mann wrote:

Schools are weird. They basically say, "It's ok to get pregnant at age 14 (because if you do we'll give you childcare)" but don't let kids run on the street.

Bizarre.

It's only bizarre because you're trying to compare apples to oranges.

Hey Truth Mann

I would like to know how many high schools provide free child care? If it is over 5% I would be surprised. At least show me a couple of districts.

Simple solution: hold formal practice on workout days and make distance runs "on you own." If you have a 50 minute recovery run scheduled for Tuesday, don't have practice on Tuesday. Just open the team room so kids can change and let them do their own thing.

I have been to Radford VA and there is a lot of paved trails. The one that the students are pictured on goes for miles and connects to a park system that is a least a mile around. Blacksburg VA is less than 5 miles away and there is a 12 mile bike path that these kid could run on. We are not talking about an area where they would have to run around a track for their long runs. Also, Pandapas Pond trail system that goes for miles. The state champion Blacksburg team NEVER runs roads.

*there are

*kids

I'm thinking of the woman in NYC who allegedly is suing the city for not making the barriers around the water fountains and pools in the city high enough.

Why?

Supposedly the dumb s*it fell into one when she was texting and walking.

Let's ban texting phones. I'm waiting for a Darwin Award event involving one of those.

PRIVATIZE THE SCHOOLS.

Why not just sign a waiver that says the is not liable if you get hurt off campus? Also, if practice is before or after hours, I don't see how they can keep you from running on the streets. Does that apply to everyone in the town?

LetsRun.com wrote:

There was an uproar to the decision in Radford, VA but the school board has apparently been told by lawyers that since they once banned it, if they go back on it now and someone gets hurt, they'll be liable.

We say BS. Have people sign wavers. No way in hell would they be liable.

wdbj7.com wrote:

"Because [the board] made a decision to ban running on streets and sidewalks, safe neighborhoods in Radford, that they can't go back on it," said Schafer. "In fact, they've been told by [city lawyers] they will be liable for anything that happens after that."

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/local/no-running-ban-will-stand-for-radford-high-school-students/-/20128466/21880368/-/859j0p/-/index.html

BOYCOTT VIRGINIA!!!

you can sue for all sorts of things and judges can toss your case out of court and juries and judges can decide that you have lost. we cannot make every decision by reference to whether a lawsuit is possible.

SimpleSolution wrote:

Simple solution: hold formal practice on workout days and make distance runs "on you own." If you have a 50 minute recovery run scheduled for Tuesday, don't have practice on Tuesday. Just open the team room so kids can change and let them do their own thing.

This

Get a Clue McFly wrote:

------- wrote:

These people are xc runners...they should be running on Earth/dirt. I understand the ban..makes perfect sense.

So you're going to do a 15 mile run around a field? Yea, that'll work. Besides, there is very little undeveloped land in the area referred to. It's basically a concrete jungle, so that makes your solution essentially impossible.

that you throw out a "15 mile run" example for a h.s. xc team demonstrates how you have absolutely nothing credible to lend to this discussion.

Learn how to think, learn how to write, learn how to debate, THEN come and try to make a reply.

Happened at my high school (in VA) when I was a freshman. I'm a junior now. We have to keep our shirts on and run on school property. Break either rule and it's grounds for dismissal from the team. Our principal is a complete d**k, when we tried to talk to him about the rules he belittled us and was an a** in every sense of the word.

Regardless, Radford should just thank their lucky stars that they've still got a substantial amount of space to run. My school has a track, a couple fields (that we aren't supposed to run around because other teams are practicing), a parking lot, and a stretch of trail roughly a quarter mile long that has sprained many an ankle. It's a glorious place to get our mileage in. A whole half of a square mile.

No, I am not SomeCoach. But I do know several schools that either don't or didn't allow their teams to run off campus. Wilton and New Milford come to mind. Many schools require kids to wear vests and one coach was fired because one of his kids wasn't wearing her vest. There have recently been two accidents in CT where cars hit hs runners. But I also remember one girl about 15 years ago who was running on campus and ran into a pole and had a severe concussion for the rest of the year. So you see, nothing you can do to make everyone safe all of the time.

But until you outlaw contact in football, tossing girls in cheer leading and hard balls in baseball and lacrosse all this discussion of keeping kids off the roads because of "safety" is crap.

rojo wrote:

Thank you CT coach. It amazes me that people forget the job is to educate.

Shouldn't we trust kids or educate them if they don't know how to properly run on the street without getting run over. Will tragedies still occur? Yes, people get killed in traffic accidents in cars all the time whether on foot or not.

But the schools - particularly a high school - is supposed to be educating these people to be successful in the real world/college. In my mind, they are basically saying, "Hey there is no way we can teach them how to properly run on the street so we aren't going to let them do it."

It's just beyond stupidity.

Wait, you're saying that "people get killed in traffic accidents in cars all the time whether on foot or not" yet are saying that schools should put students out there to learn a life lesson?

Even if "they don't know how to properly run in the street without getting run over?"

I see you write the stupidest things time and time again but what you've written above takes the cake.

So even though a student or two might get run over, that's a life lesson they should learn in school? WTF!?!

I honestly hope you don't actually think that and are simply such an awful writer that you can't more effectively express yourself.

afadsf wrote:

Running on the street is an "incredible freedom"? What is this?

I think by incredible freedom he was talking about being able to go into any liquor store and buy beer when you were 16. Going into the xxx movie theater and taking a little extra money for a date with one of the girls upstairs. Getting your first car before you turned 16 and having gas cheap enough you could drive it anywhere you wanted. Seeing a rock concert for $5. Being able to run wherever you wanted was much safer without everybody on their cellphones driving on the right side of the fog line. Running roadraces all summer because they only cost $3.

And last, if you lived in a rural area, still having a bunch of gravel roads you could run on instead of the hard asphalt.

crying for you wrote:

Wait, you're saying that "people get killed in traffic accidents in cars all the time whether on foot or not" yet are saying that schools should put students out there to learn a life lesson?

Even if "they don't know how to properly run in the street without getting run over?"

I see you write the stupidest things time and time again but what you've written above takes the cake.

So even though a student or two might get run over, that's a life lesson they should learn in school? WTF!?!

I honestly hope you don't actually think that and are simply such an awful writer that you can't more effectively express yourself.

You've misunderstood the stats -- it's "even though a few kids IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY might get killed". Learn to appreciate statistics and you might have something valid to contribute. Yes, anyone who exists in the US is at risk of getting hit by a car. Get over it.

Meanwhile, it's completely absurd to worry about your "liability" on the roads when you offer football, whose rules guarantee severe spinal, brain, joint, and bone injury.

Rojo,

The districts job is to keep their students safe. They made the decision to ban students from running aimlessly on city streets in order to protect them from the things which they cannot control (bad drivers).

Allowing them to "learn their lesson"(I'm rephrasing what you said), isn't something you can reverse if they get hit by a bad driver. You can't control the drivers on the streets but the district can control where they run.

Fr2ggy,

Sorry, if the district recognizes that its a liability then their position is to protect the students from bad/unsafe drivers. You failed, go back to high school and complain with Rojo.