Life Lines
17-inch doctrine
Back when we began sacrificing our standards at the altar of self-esteem, a
nationally syndicated cartoon captured the madness. It showed a young boy
standing against a growth chart – showing that he was 8 feet tall. A school
nurse, labeled “Educational Standards,” explains to the boy’s Mom: “He
stopped growing a couple of years ago. We keep lowering the measurement so
his feelings won’t be hurt.”
Alarm over this trend was echoed by a legendary baseball coach who
showed up as a keynote speaker at a national convention of coaches, with a
white home plate hanging from his neck.
His audience knew he was an irascible eccentric and figured he was up
to something. Finally he said: “You’re probably wondering why I’m wearing
home plate around my neck. I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand
before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my
life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”
He began asking coaches in turn – Little League, Babe Ruth, high school,
college, minor league, major league: “How wide is home plate?”
They still couldn’t figure out where he was going with this but repeated the
same answer: “17 inches.”
“So what do they do,” he asked, “with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw
the ball over 17 inches? They send him to Pocatello!”
Then he asked the coaches: “What do we do when our best player shows
up late to practice? When our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up
unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or
do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home plate?”
On the home plate hanging from his neck he quickly sketched a house and
said: “This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the
way we parent our kids. With our discipline. We don’t teach accountability to
our kids and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We widen
the plate!”
Same thing with the schools: “The quality of our education is going
downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be
successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing
398