Rules are rules but there are times when discretion is the greater part of valour. It is with this in mind that I believe that the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) needs to take a second look at the situation with regard to the schools whose athletes will not be allowed to participate in the Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships (Champs) because the entries from the respective schools were submitted after the stated deadline.

Let me say that I agree with ISSA in its stance. You can't be telling kids about being disciplined when you are not setting the example for them to follow. That is a big part of why Jamaica's society is as it is today; there are not enough adults setting the appropriate examples for their children to follow.

Back in the day when a teacher spoke, you know he or she was a teacher. Their mastery of the language was such that one knew off the bat that only a teacher spoke like that. These days, many teachers sound like hooligans, so how do they expect the children they teach to sound any better? Similarly, school administrators can't be expecting students to exercise discipline in all aspects of their lives when they are not setting the examples. I mean, how hard can it be to get the necessary information required and submit the relevant forms to ISSA on time?

Take St George's, for example. This is a school that has traditionally done well at Champs. Why they were unable to get the entry forms in on time is beyond me. North Street is a quick drive away from Lindsay Crescent. Even in peak traffic, it's going to take an hour, max.

A student only gets five to seven years in high school, the extra two if they are doing sixth form. During those years, only a small number of students get the chance to represent their school at sport or some other extra-curricular pursuit. Those who get the chance to, live for those moments. Those moments will form the bulk of the treasured memories they will have for the rest of their lives. Why take that away, especially when the students were not at fault? It's not like it was the students who transgressed, it's not like it was they who messed up.

Find a way to punish the administrators who made a mess of what is supposed to be a simple task. Make them pay for messing up. Why punish some poor student for whom this might be a last opportunity to catch the eye of a scout from an American university, a scout who could offer that student a chance at an education he could not otherwise afford?

Public Defender Earl Witter and I are on the same page about this. He is of the view that the students should be given a chance to participate. In fact, I can't think of a soul who would not agree with him. Once again, I am behind ISSA all the way for sanctioning the school, but in this instance, punishing the students is the wrong thing to do. Make the administrators who messed up bear the consequences but allow the students who have trained hard, worked hard, who displayed the discipline that will serve them well in the future, to participate in Champs.

Allow them to proudly represent the school that let them down. To me, that is the ultimate punishment for the administrators who will have to live with that shame.

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