The governing body for Mississippi public school athletics should reconsider its policy that would force teams to forfeit games if their schools switch to virtual learning because of COVID-19.
The Mississippi High School Activities Association, in announcing the decision this past week, said it was changing its policy from a year ago largely to encourage schools to stay with in-person instruction, even during the current surge in cases.
What it may encourage instead is students and employees to lie about their health, afraid that they could jeopardize the football team’s contests if they report a positive test for the virus or that they suspect they are infected. It could also deter school officials from shutting down a campus temporarily when that might be, in fact, the prudent thing to do if an outbreak is widespread enough.
The only plus side to this decision is that it might provide additional motivation for students to act responsibly during this pandemic, to get vaccinated if they are eligible and to avoid large social gatherings, where the odds of transmission increase appreciably.
But even if the policy is an effective incentive, that does not outweigh the potential unfairness in penalizing athletes for conduct or decisions over which they have no control.
A football team, for example, can be doing everything right to stay virus-free, but then get sidelined because fellow students became infected or administrators overreacted.
In-person learning should be encouraged. We get that. But there are ways to do it without using athletics as an inducement.
- The Greenwood Commonwealth
