Community Corner
Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?
A student athlete from North Andover has been stripped of her title as captain and suspended five games after allegedly going to pick up her drunk friend from a party the cops busted for underage drinking.
If your friend called you and said she was drunk at a party and needed a ride home, what would you do?
Most people would probably answer "go and pick her up so she's safe and doesn't climb into a car with someone who's been drinking."
And that's exactly what 17-year-old North Andover resident Erin Cox did. And that's why she's been suspended from the varsity volleyball team, WBZ is reporting.
Cox went to a party in Boxford to pick up her friend, and the police reportedly arrived and arrested underage drinkers. Cox was summonsed for being at the party, The Boston Herald reports.
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Cox was stripped of her title as captain of the North Andover High School Girls Volleyball team. She's been suspended for five games as well.
Her family attempted to file suit to block the suspension, but that attempt was knocked down by the courts.
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The incident has sparked outrage from local teens and parents who say Cox is being unfairly punished for doing the right thing.
On Barstool Sports, one blogger writes:
"So I guess what North Andover is saying here is they’d rather have drunk high school kids drive themselves home, risk killing people rather than having sober friends pick them up. That’s pretty much the precedent they are setting here right? That if your drunk friend calls you and asks for a ride home you should just ignore them."
What do you think? Do you agree with the school's decision to strip Cox of the captaincy and suspend her for five games?
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