Criminal Background Checks

[Jim D]

Originally Posted by TXMike

The local jail or prison in your area has a program where they are trying to rehabilitate convicted guys and they know there is a shortage of officials so they begin a sports officiating outreach where they train and provide officials free of charge to local groups. The officials are guys convicted of a variety of criminal offenses. You would be okay with them working your kid's games because you would be there to observe them? Not me.

I understand you're making up an exagerated senario to make a point, but let's put it this way - if these guys were ever going to be near kids, I prefer it to be on a football field on a Friday night in front of a couple of hundred/thousand sets of eyes. I'm not sure how a football official can be a realistic danger to kids who are helmeted and padded to the nth degree with all of the parents and fans watching them.

The money and time that would be spent of background checks would be better spent elsewhere protecting kids. I don't have a problem with the checks in general, I'd just put officials on the absolute bottom of the priority list.