New Football Game Policy Aims to Cut Down Horseplay

The starts a new student policy designed to create a more positive experience for adult fans attending home football games this year.

Starting with Friday’s home opener against Canfield High School, which kicks off at 7 p.m., elementary and middle school students who choose to not sit with an adult will be required to sit in supervised, age-designated bleacher sections.

Kent City Schools Superintendent Joe Giancola said the new policy is a direct result of a Community Survey conducted last school year.

Survey respondents “pretty much said we need to tighten down on discipline a bit — not so much in the schools, but at our after-school activities,” Giancola said. “We get a lot of exposure at a football game. Our stands hold about 5,000 people and when we’re winning, the grandstands are sold out. When people come down to the asphalt walkways to get kettle corn, they don’t want to be run into by kids.”

He explained that high school-age fans generally aren’t problematic, as they tend to sit in the grandstand section designated for them and actually watch the game. Middle schoolers have long had a grandstand section designated for their age group, but they have never been required to sit there.

Elementary-age students have never had a designated seating section, but now they will. Giancola said aluminum bleachers that typically serve as baseball and softball seating are being moved into the football stadium to accommodate elementary students.

“We’re adding the bleachers to the north end of the grandstand, facing in towards the field on about the 30-yard line, where there’s a patch of grassy area. It’s a temporary measure to see how things go,” he explained.

Giancola said that if young students just walked around the stadium during games — talking with friends, visiting the vendors or restrooms — there wouldn’t be an issue. However, horseplay tends to occur amongst wandering groups of kids.

“It’s one thing to get up to get some popcorn," Giancola said. "It’s another thing when you start grabbing someone’s hat and playing keep-away and running into adults … football games are not playgrounds.”

He said the new elementary school seating section will be supervised on a rotating basis by principals from the city’s five elementary schools. Principal Justin Gates and Kathy Scott, assistant principal, will take turns monitoring the middle school section, located in the south end of the grandstands.

High school administrators will continue supervising the grounds during home games, as will off-duty officers who are hired by the district to work security.

Giancola said youth found wandering during games will face progressive steps from school officials. “The first time they’ll be told to sit down, then referred to the principals. The next step will be calling parents. After that, they’ll be told they’re not allowed to attend the next home game,” he explained.

Giancola knows some children will claim the new policy is unfair to them, but that won’t sway administrators. “Football games are designed by the district, so the district can set the rules. It’s our call,” he said. “It’s not fair (for children) to disrupt an adult’s experience at a football game.”