Branded 'Omega' alum loses job
 

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http://www.ajc.com/thursday/content/...612f1009c.html

Branding rituals found at Roswell
Football aide quits: Investigation points to assistant overseeing players using paper clips to sear scars of solidarity.
Bill Sanders, Paul Kaplan - Staff
Thursday, January 5, 2006

Seventeen football players at Roswell High School branded themselves in a show of solidarity this past season, and an assistant coach who attended the rituals has resigned amid a county investigation, school officials confirmed.

Mario Hansbrough, the defensive coordinator for the north Fulton school, made a weekly routine of taking players off campus, behind the school, on Thursday nights and overseeing as they branded red-hot paper clips that left an inch-long scar on the chest of defensive players who were set to start that Friday, according to athletics department officials, including head coach Tim McFarlin.

McFarlin said the players had seen a branded fraternity Greek letter omega on Hansbrough's shoulder, and decided to do something similar as a show of defensive solidarity.

He said Hansbrough talked the kids into using small paper clips instead of something more drastic.

"I'm disappointed he was there," McFarlin said. "He used poor judgment, but I know his heart, and I know he didn't do one thing to hurt kids. He was doing this because the kids were intent on doing something anyway. We all make poor decisions at some point in life. If it was up to me, I'd retain him, but I know the liability issues here."

Omega brands, at least the ones I've seen are some of the most badass brands of all time. They're enormous omegas, and the guys who have them have 5 or so.

So...this guy gives them paperclips so they don't hold a coat hanger up to a stove and do it.

He was right, he was right about everything, they would have done something anyway, he probablly stopped them from seriosly hurting themselves and looses his job for it. That's so wrong.

This has been all over the news and since I live about 20 miles from Roswell....I'll add my 2 cents ....though it's just my opinion.

Roswell, GA is, for the most part, an upper-middle class to upper class area. Taking account the comments of my personal friends from that area, the parents in Roswell are the too overprotective, have a cow if their kid gets a B from a teacher type. That being said, I'm not in support of the teacher/coach helping brand, but the kids would do it anyway and could have really hurt themselves. I tell you what though, had he NOT helped and those kids have made a larger brand on their body, the guy would have probably still received the blame since he would have indirectly been the original start of the idea.

You should see these kids defend him on the news.....they are 110% gung ho on this guy. They are UPSET to see him go.

Yeah, I used to live in Roswell and I agree that the kids would have done it anyway. BUT, he, as the adult, must take responsibility for his and their actions. Its a catch 22. Too bad.

Maybe I'm just not seeing the wrong-doing in this situation. How is it that thes athletes branding themselves is wrong? They weren't doing drugs or anything illegal. As far as I know, branding is not against the low for anyone to do. Or is it?!

But they weren't just branding themselves, exactly. This was a "show of defensive solidarity" apparently overseen by the defensiove coordinator, an employee of the high school. So, if an injury, infection or the like had occured, or if a parent (this being high school, most of the kids were probably minors) had a problem with their children being branded without parental consent, the school system would be liable. There's a whole host of liability problems for the school system here.

I think the moral of this story is that no matter how many brands, tattoo's, and life long infection bubbles they amass, they are still never going to beat Marist.

The title of this thread is confusing...I thought he lost his job b/c he was branded. That would have been really wrong.

As it is, still a stupid reason to fire someone.

I'd be interested in seeing all of your reactions to this story if you were the parent of a high school age person.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

I think the right thing would have been for him to tell these guys to wait until they're adults and out of their parents' houses and if they still want to brand themselves at that time, to go to get it professionally done so they don't get skin infections. Even if the football players still went and branded themselves anyway, he wouldn't have been there and he wouldn't be a liability to the school because he had given the football players the correct advice (wait until you're older, wait until you're out on your own, go to a professional brander). And maybe, by telling them about the risk of infection if the branding is done by an amateur, the guys that are still determined to get a brand right then and there would have gone and gotten it done at a tattoo/branding/piercing parlor.

Exactly.

Ha ha ha...that's too funny. :)

What makes you think he DIDN'T tell them that? They could have persisted (like teenagers do) or went ahead and tried to do it the wrong way and he tried to help them so that there would not be injury, etc. I think he was placed in a no-win situation: place the system in potential liability OR risk injury to his students. I think he made the right MORAL choice but clearly the wrong LEGAL choice.

BTW, in most states, if you are under 18, you cannot get tattooed/branded/pierced at a business w/o parental consent.