At Jackson-Reed, we’ve never had the typical Friday Night Lights experience. In fact, most can’t tell you if there is a game this week. Our lack of school spirit is already apparent, but the new DCPS policy for attending football games might stop students from ever finding their inner tiger.
On September 12, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that students attending football games will now have to be accompanied by a chaperone, with each chaperone being able to take three kids, and start times being moved up. This new policy comes after continued “instances of spectator conflict,” according to DCPS; most notably two teens were injured at a high school football game. While we are grateful to the district for keeping the safety of students at the forefront of their decisions, we worry this policy is going to make our already empty football stands look even emptier.
Most students won’t be able to find a chaperone, as many parents have full-time jobs and aren’t able to take afternoons off to go to a high school football game. And how are they supposed to get their dads away from the TV on Thursday and Saturday nights while being in the midst of the NFL and college football seasons?
The truth is, high school football isn’t all that interesting to people above the age of eighteen who aren’t JR alumni. The reason football games are of any interest to teenagers is because of the atmosphere–even if we won’t win, it’s fun to cheer on our team with other people from our school.
Having parents who are begrudgingly there will ruin this atmosphere and take away all the fun of going to a football game. The cheering sections will get quieter, the attendees will have less fun, and the football team will suffer more.
Anyone who plays a sport knows that the energy from fans on the benches is just as important as the team’s energy. Sadly, with students unable to find parents willing to forfeit their nights to high school football, our football game attendance will become even more scarce.
We understand that safety was the number one priority when creating this policy, and safety is very important. However, the policy is detrimental to the quintessential high school football experiences. •