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'10 OH OL Matt James (Notre Dame Signee - RIP)

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Steve19;1685470; said:
Not to show any disrespect, but why was a 17 year-old in Florida on "spring break" without his parents? When did spring break become a high school thing?
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The senior spring break Panama trip has been almost a rite of passage for X guys for years. According to the Chicago Tribune article, there were some parents nearby. In all fairness, he was off to college in 2-3 months..at some point you have to take off the training wheels.

"Gary Massa said his told him James had died from the fall. He added that St. Xavier parents staying nearby the students had gathered James' classmates on the trip and brought in a chaplain to help work through the tragedy."

Notre Dame football recruit dies after balcony fall - Chicago Breaking Sports

Cornerback6;1685482; said:
Apparently was climbing around on the balcony...got persuaded to try to jump into the pool from three stories up and missed. Sad sad sad. Thoughts & prayers.
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I really hope you aren't just posting speculation as fact, because I've heard a couple different things from people who are close enough to know and no one has said this. It may end up being less innocent, but I know that the railings on the balconies at that particular hotel have been in terrible shape for years. A friend of mine actually complained to the hotel about it when he was there a few years back, and I've read of people from X talking about how poor of shape they were in as long as 10 years ago.
 
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X Buckeyes07 X;1685527; said:
The senior spring break Panama trip has been almost a rite of passage for X guys for years. According to the Chicago Tribune article, there were some parents nearby. In all fairness, he was off to college in 2-3 months..at some point you have to take off the training wheelhttp://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/04/notre-dame-football-recruit-dies-after-fall.html
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I agree that at some point you have to take off the training wheels, but I disagree that age 17,18 (while the kid is still living under the parents roof, presumably) is the time to do it. Perhaps when they go off to college or when they have the money to get their own place.
 
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Boilers Fan;1685537; said:
I agree that at some point you have to take off the training wheels, but I disagree that age 17,18 (while the kid is still living under the parents roof, presumably) is the time to do it. Perhaps when they go off to college or when they have the money to get their own place.
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He was to turn 18 next week. Apparently, there were parents staying nearby to watch over these kids.
 
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Steve19;1685470; said:
Not to show any disrespect, but why was a 17 year-old in Florida on "spring break" without his parents? When did spring break become a high school thing?
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Oh Steve, You must older than me. My wife taught at Ursuline Academy, the sister school to St. X. Kids there had a "Countdown to Spring Break" calendar on the front window beginning on the first day of each school year. Florida was where the "poor kids" went. Jamaica, Bermuda, and Mexican resorts were favored.

I was assigned to Moeller for 20 years and our ADM (average daily matriculation) figures took such significant hits on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the last day before Christmas break, and the week before Spring break that the school gave up. Veterans' Day became a school day and Thanksgiving started on Tuesday afternoon. Teachers were forbidden to have exams on the final day before any break. Administration tried reducing spring break to Thursday, Good Friday and the Monday after only to have an open revolt from students and their parents.

Any suburban school system faces similar problems.
 
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Honor&Glory;1685550; said:
Alcohol Involved In St. Xavier Student's Death - Cincinnati News Story - WLWT Cincinnati

I swear to God I am going to be white hot pissed if one of these 'chaperons' provided the alcohol that led to this incident.
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I know when I went to Myrtle Beach for my senior trip, there were no chaperons and we had a pretty absurd amount of alcohol. Not that this matters when talking about the chaperons. But I'm not surprised. It's more common than it seems people think. When we went it was about 20 17-18 year olds with a ton of alcohol and no adult supervision. I know plenty of schools whose graduating seniors do this.

Accidents like this one are terrible, but not as surprising as they should be, unfortunately.. :(

A kid fell in Myrtle Beach during my senior trip (a couple hotels down, didn't know him).
 
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cincibuck;1685552; said:
Oh Steve, You must older than me. My wife taught at Ursuline Academy, the sister school to St. X. Kids there had a "Countdown to Spring Break" calendar on the front window. Florida was where the "poor kids" went. Jamaica, Bermuda, and Mexican resorts were favored.

I was assigned to Moeller for 20 years and our ADM (average daily matriculation) figures took such significant hits on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the last day before Christmas break, and the week before Spring break that the school gave up. Veterans' Day became a school day and Thanksgiving started on Tuesday afternoon. Teachers were forbidden to have exams on the final day before any break. Administration tried reducing spring break to Thursday, Good Friday and the Monday after only to have an open revolt from students and their parents.

Any suburban school system faces similar problems.
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I don't think he's talking about the days off. More about going to a place where college kids normally go at this time and party.
 
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CentralMOBuck;1685555; said:
I don't think he's talking about the days off. More about going to a place where college kids normally go at this time and party.
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Sorry, I believe the two go hand in hand. Should have stated that in my post. Holidays (with a small h, as in vacations) get pushed in front of school and kids are given a great deal of freedom to strike out on their own. 'Chaperones?' That gets a wink and a nod from my experience.

Similarly, it was not unusual to work with a student whose parents were out of town on vacation for a week or two weeks and the kid was left in charge of the home.

I don't know about St X, but parents letting kids go on spring break was pretty common at Moeller and Ursuline, two situations I was personally involved with.

So were situations where parents either provided beer or ignored the fact that it was present. A huge German Catholic presence in this town makes beer a part of almost all social occasions and few parents see a problem with it. "They need to learn how to drink," is a commonly heard explanation.

Just a couple of years back students from an excellent suburban school were turned in by their chaperone for drinking while in Europe. Parents defended the students and they were exonerated.
 
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Notre Dame Fighting Irish recruit Matt Jame was drunk before fatal fall, police say - ESPN
CINCINNATI -- A 17-year-old Notre Dame football recruit who was killed in a fall from a fifth-floor hotel balcony during his senior-year spring break in Florida was "drunk and belligerent," authorities said Saturday.
Matt James died Friday around 6:30 p.m. ET at the Days Inn Motel in Panama City Beach. He was dead when police arrived.
"It appears to be a tragic accident," Panama City Beach police Maj. David Humphreys said

James' former teammates at St. Xavier High School gathered for a private prayer service in the school's chapel on Saturday. The All-State lineman had been the first top signing for new Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly.
Police did not use James' name during a news conference. Instead, they referred to him as a 17-year-old from Ohio who had signed with Notre Dame.
"Witnesses and friends indicate he had become drunk and belligerent," Humphreys said. "He had leaned over the balcony rail, was shaking his finger at the people in the next room over. He fell over."
Humphreys said the railing at the hotel met the standards for proper height. He said police would be interested in pursuing charges if it was learned who provided the underage teen with alcohol.
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Boilers Fan;1685588; said:
:shake: Call me uptight, paranoid, whatever you like...but my children will not be permitted to go anywhere for spring break during their high school years without direct adult supervision. I don't understand why any logical parent would allow this to happen. I've heard of too many "accidents" like this over the years, my kid is not going to be a statistic.
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Something like this seems to happen every year during spring break. My question is: Why are the balconies open for these kids to go out?

I Went to Fort Meyers and Daytona in high school and college. We were on the ground floor one year but the following years we were on the 6th and 8th floors of hotels. In each of the hotels the balcony was locked up so we couldn't get out there. I mean locked up with several industrial size pad locks and a big sign warning us that if we attempted to get out onto the balcony we would be removed from the hotel and our money would not be refunded.
 
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RIP my Bomber brother.

The situation Cincibuck describes is prevalent at the Hs I used to teach at as well. A large group of parents would rent a condo, and then let their kids all share another. Siesta Key was/is the destination of choice.
Sadly, kids do not realize that alcohol and 50 foot drops don't mix. A year or two ago a very popular student from Tipp City/OhioU tried to jump from balcony to bacony at a hotel, and, unfortunately, fell to her death while intoxicated. These kind of spring break shenaigans happen to the "best" kids in school-athletes,leaders,etc-it isn't a case of being raised wrong by parents-although I'm sure the parents question themselves everytime a tragedy like this happen.
 
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