It’s no secret, Governor Chris Christie has done his fair share of trash talking over the years, and now in his own state of New Jersey, a new ban targeting high school students who talk trash at sporting events will be soon going into effect.
The office of the Attorney General of New Jersey along with the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) plan to enforce new rules that will make it clear that harassing conduct related to race, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or religion will not be tolerated.
The “trash talk” ban will affect nearly 500 high schools, 250,000 student athletes and tens of thousands of coaches come this Fall.
Question is: is this ban really going to stop the trash talking that has become a pastime for most athletes.
“When dealing with athletes on a professional level, yeah I think a ban would work,” Fort Lee High School senior Samuel Yeom told PIX 11 News. “But on a high school level, it shouldn’t be done. It will be hard to regulate because we don’t have refs with super hearing.”
Meanwhile, Edgewater resident Joe Kim thinks the ban will do more damage than good when it goes into effect.
“Like you’re taking a huge part of the sport away from the kids,” he said. “They sometimes need that as motivation to work harder. How are they going to play with the intensity and all that stuff you need to get to the next level.”
According to the NJSIAA, any student-athlete or coach who is cited before, during or after an interscholastic event for what is deemed “unsportsmanlike” misconduct will be disqualified from participating in the next two scheduled events.
Depending on the severity of the misconduct, further investigation may follow suit.
