Should they or shouldn't they?

I've been hearing about a brouhaha in the Dallas area that really had me a bit puzzled. Two private schools, The Covenant School and Dallas Academy, competed in a girls basketball game. Covenant won the game 100-0. The school took a lot of criticism and ended up apologizing for the "shameful" win and requesting to forfeit the district 3-2A game. I had never heard of a school asking to forfeit a game just because they won by a large margin.

Then I found out that Dallas Academy is for kids with learning disabilities. Well, that explains a lot of the reaction, I thought. But let's look at this logically.

If those kids aren't able to compete with other schools, why are they subjected to such humiliation? If they are able to compete, then the other schools shouldn't be ashamed of winning. Are they supposed to let Dallas Academy win and tarnish their own records?Admittedly, they maybe shouldn't have run the score up the way they did, but where do you cut if off -- 75, 50, 35, 25? Maybe they could have scored 150 but restrained themselves. Why doesn't Dallas Academy come up with a plan where the other schools, as a part of their community service, send their students to help the Dallas Academy girls with their skills and play with them on an informal basis?

We do people with disabilities no favors when we throw them into the mainstream and expect them to perform as well as others. On the other hand, we do them no favors when we throw them into the mainstream and expect others to put a halter on their own performance to keep from damaging someone's self-esteem. Let's be realistic -- let's expect of those with disabilities their very best. If that's good enough for them to compete in the world, then let them. If it's not, then give them a break and don't expect them to!

"Covenant asks for forfeit." The Dallas Morning News; January 23, 2009; p. 1C.