Some Kids Ain't Half Bad

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I am a little concerned for the future every time I watch the kids of the day do some of the crap that they do. For the last six years I've coached a high school rugby team and while I have met a number of fantastic kids I've met even more whose apathy, lack of work ethic, selfishness, and deplorable morals are depressing to say the least.

It's a shame that those are the kids that every one sees because I have met many that I honestly feel have made me a better person simply due to being associated with them. Those are the guys that have kept me coaching as long as I have (because it is a volunteer gig). Sadly, they are in the minority.

When it comes to the bad apples the common theme seems to be a complete lack of responsibility. Nothing is there fault and whatever they do is okay because it is in response to or because of some perceived slight by someone else.

It can be kind of depressing when I think about it. That's why when I hear about stories of kids doing the right thing it gives me hope that there will be some decent folks in charge when my wife and I are trying to enjoy our retirement.

Take Carson Jones and several members of the Queens Creek High School varsity football team in Arizona. When Carson found out about a sophomore girl named Chy Johnson--who has a brain disorder--getting bullied by several people at school he took action.

Carson essentially put her under protection of the football team. He began eating all his lunches with her and walking her to class. When he couldn't several other members of the football team stepped up to do the same.

The message was clear. Mess with this young lady who was incapable of properly defending herself and you'll deal with people who can.



Those aren't the only kids that have their act together. Recently in Ohio a gentleman by the name of Michael Fern, a senior running back at St. Clairsville who is committed to go to Michigan next year, gave up a chance to pad his own stats to let a teammate honor his recently departed father.

Late in a recent game he could have scored a nice 53-yard TD, but instead stepped out at the one yard line so that his teammate Logan Thompson could score in honor of his father.  The play call was great:

Just follow Ferns.


There will always be some folks of questionable moral center in the world. It can be hard to see the good when it is so much easier to see the bad. That's what makes recognizing stories like these so important.