Posted on 01/12/2023 11:06:11 AM PST by Morgana
Eight high school students in Texas have been hospitalized after their football coach forced them to do 400 push-ups in an hour without any breaks.
Rockwall-Heath High School Head Football Coach, John Harrell, has been put on administrative leave after he reportedly forced students to do 300 to 400 push-ups during an eighth-period athletic class on Friday.
A mother, who did not want to be identified, claimed the football players were forced to do the intense workout without water breaks, according to Fox 4 News.
She said her son was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis - the breakdown of muscle tissue that can release damaging proteins into the bloodstream, which can cause kidney damage or failure.
It is unclear what the other seven students were diagnosed with. None of the players' identities have been released.
Principal Todd Bradford addressed the situation on Monday, writing in a letter to student-athlete parents: 'On Monday, January 9, 2023, several parents reported that their student(s) subsequently needed medical attention, and in some cases, hospitalization. Please know the District immediately implemented measures to address the situation and provide support for our students.'
It also advised parents to inform their students to see the trainer if they experience not being able to 'bend or extend your arms, unable to lift arms above your head, dark urine (tea or cola-colored), and sharp arm pain,' as well as, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, confusion, or lethargy.
'Student safety is a top priority for Rockwall IDS and we will continue to take immediate and appropriate measures in the best interests of our students as we address this situation,' the letter said.
The Dallas-based school has also launched a third-party investigation into the incident and said students who attended the class on Monday did a light, nonstrenuous workout.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
i’d agree with you if this was 20 or 30 years ago but today’s boys and their moms are a different breed.
At least from what i have observed..... lots of boys still wet nursing and lots of moms willing to do it ( so to speak, of course)
You may and probably do disagree with me. C’est la vie!
sounds pretty much like ALL the coaches at the JHS and HS i went to back in the day ...
LOL, we didn’t have the litigation lottery 40 years ago. Were any of the abused teens admitted to the hospital? Or were they sent home with a $300 Pedialyte?
“Summer 1983, Fort Sill, OK, even the Army forced us take water breaks.”
I was told the Army forced men and women to do this. Even more so when they were over in Iraq and Kuwait. I heard they were ordered to drink water even when they said “I’m not thirsty”. They had to drink like so many gallons a day.
Aside from the title, there is also the article that can be read for that information.
And no, I don't click on Daily Msil links.
If you want to tell which teens are still hospitalized, I will happiy amend my judgments.
Coach is white. I am mildly curious to know the racial identity of the aggreived teens.
How often did you take your water breaks? Every 10 minutes? Every 20?
But I wasn't in it for being overweight, I was in there for being underweight and not being able to do the minimum 3 pull ups in my initial PFT (Physical Fitness Test).
So they put me on "double rations" at the mess hall, which really did not sit well with my overweight fellow recruits, who were getting more like half rations. I'd show up at the table with a heaping pile of food and they'd just have some vegetables and a tiny piece of meat on their plates.
Because most of the PCP platoon were there for being fat, I was a real speedster on the running track. I'd be clocking three miles in 17 minutes and lapping many of the other recruits.
They also put me in the weight room to build up my upper body strength. That kicked my butt more than anything in boot camp. But towards the end of my PCP, I was cranking out 20 pullups (the max).
Most people who go into PCP wash out. I joined a regular platoon and cruised to graduation. But I spent nearly four months at Parris Island between Feb and May of 1981.
If you don’t want to read the article, then don’t.
I worked construction in southern Arizona in the summer time. I would drink about a gallon and half in a day. The sweat would evaporate before it got in to my clothes, but at the end of the day, I had a salt ring on my boots.
I was in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M in 1980. As punishment, we were required to do a “class set” of push ups. That would be 84 of them. If we really screwed up, it would e 4 sets of 84 non stop. We all made it no problem even in the Texas heat.
Different time and different generation.
📂
It’s a nothing-burger ofmodern manufactured outrage, and you fell for it.
Below is the full, unedited, letter sent to parents.
Dear RHHS Hawk Football Parents,
As parents of student-athletes in the Hawk varsity football program, I want to make you aware of a situation that occurred last Friday, January 6, 2023, during the football off-season program. It came to our attention Monday, January 9, 2023, that during the 8th period athletic class with Rockwall-Heath High School Head Football Coach John Harrell, student-athletes were required to perform multiple push-ups. On Monday, January 9, 2023, several parents reported that their student(s) subsequently needed medical attention, and in some cases, hospitalization. Please know the District immediately implemented measures to address the situation and provide support for our students. To thoroughly investigate any connection between the activities in class and student illnesses, the District is retaining an independent third-party to investigate the event. The District is also taking interim action, including but not limited to, placing Coach Harrell on administrative leave while the investigation is pending and notifying appropriate outside agencies. District administrators and campus personnel have been in contact with the affected families and student-athletes.
At the beginning of Monday’s January 9th athletic class, the campus athletic trainer reviewed the following symptoms and advised student-athletes to see the trainer should they experience any of the following:
Unable to bend or extend your arms,
Unable to lift arms above your head,
Dark urine (tea or cola colored), and
Sharp arm pain.
Additional symptoms to watch for include lack of urinating, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, confusion, lethargy or loss of consciousness. The athletic trainer and campus nurse will continue to monitor students.
Student-athletes attending class yesterday participated in a recovery workout with a light warm-up and light stretching that was non-strenuous.
If you or your child have concerns regarding your child’s health, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s physician as well as the RHHS Head Athletic Trainer at 469-698-2636 ext. 2637. Finally, please contact campus administration, the District Athletic Department at 469-698-7364 ext. 7363 and/or District Student Services Department at 972-771-0605 ext. 7071 if you have any additional questions.
Student safety is a top priority for Rockwall ISD and we will continue to take immediate and appropriate measures in the best interests of our students as we address this situation.
Sincerely,
Principal Todd Bradford
Rockwall-Heath High School
Meant to include you when I posted the above article.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4122863/posts?page=115#115
You sure wouldn’t have played football in Texas back in the day... the coach was close to the Captain of a ship.
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I find it hard to understand why people act like lemmings and are so compliant with unreasonable demands. Maybe its the independent/conservative streak in me that questions things that don’t make sense. I also have a strong aversion to any kind of abuse. Standing up to it is a real display of character IMO.
I played high school football and did my share of exercises and drills. But they were always for strength and conditioning, not punishment. The coach had rational ways to deal with player issues and was highly respected.
Most of the coaches back in the 60s were WWII vets and served in the military, so they had that kind of mindset.
It’s a nothing-burger ofmodern manufactured outrage, and you fell for it.
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No, it was a stupid and potentially harmful form of punishment. You may disagree but I find tolerating any kind abuse as unacceptable. Far too many people in our society are willing do whatever others tell them to do. That compliance is often inculcated at a young age unfortunately.
“”I actually did read it, and none of the students were admitted to the hospital””
You didn’t read the article and haven’t even read the excerpt.
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