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Uploaded: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 3:41 PM

M-A track coach charged with threatening kids  

by Dave Boyce
Almanac Staff

Posted by It's Pat, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Aug 18, 2009 at 5:14 pm

[Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

I used to know coach Weston. He would never say anything like that. He coached many kids of all races. Even when angry at us kids for goofing off. He would never act like that.

These kids probably pissed him off. For more reasons then what their admitting to. I'll bet Weston gave them a few insulting words about their lack of control over the ball. Embarrassing them to the point. Were they ran home to mommy. With some horrendous story of racism.

Posted by Tim, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Aug 18, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Three sides to every story- His, Theirs(the kids)and the Truth.

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Aug 18, 2009 at 5:41 pm

It sounds that we can no longer tell off misbehaving kids if they happen to be of any race different to our own. The law appears to be on the side of the miscreants regardless of what mischief they get up to. How sad.

Posted by kelly is my homie, a resident of Menlo Park, on Aug 18, 2009 at 5:43 pm

I cant believe this Kelly is a great individual. I just finished 4 years at Menlo Atherton and he was my coach. I had a strong friendship with him and I respect him a great deal and while he can be short tempered at times we have to remember we are talking about 12 YEAR OLD KIDS...really we are going to let the exaggerated story of 3 KIDS dictate this man's career at MA as well as his image. Absolutely not. kelly you are our coach whether a former MA runner or current we all have your back

Posted by anon., a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Aug 19, 2009 at 2:15 am

People do and say things when they are upset that they would not normally do and to have an affect. It does not mean they are racist or believe what they are saying - that is, if he even said anything. Kids know how to push people's buttons, but woe to anyone who tries to push back - and you can't spank anymore.

What is the idea bouncing a ball off someone's house, that could be interpreted as an almost terrorist threat or harrassment, especially if you are a teacher or some authority figure. Why does there have to be damage anyway ... it's good that there is not damage to the house, but that does not lessen the rudeness of hitting a house with a ball.

This is ridiculous. The result of diminishing the power of people to react against threats unless they can do it perfectly just makes sure that they most political correct and best "actors" stay around, the ones who no one really knows what they think.

I don't know the guy, or the kids, and have never been to the school, but this should be dropped in shame.

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Aug 19, 2009 at 10:56 am

I LOVE how we are willing to make almost any excuse for an adult these days when the charge of racism is involved. I don't know if the incident happened as the kids said it did or who is telling the truth in this situation. Hopefully the truth will be uncovered in the process. What if these were your kids and they had "misbehaved" by bouncing a ball off the house of a Mexican person and in response that adult called them "white trash" and "trailor trash", told them they "hated all white people" and threatened to kill them? Would you be so forgiving then? The bottom line is that as the adult in the situation, Mr. Weston had the responsibility to behave in an appropriate and responsible manner. If the kids' behavior really was so out of line, he should have called the police. I don't know about you but when I am angry or upset with a Jewish person, African American person, Latino person, Native American person, Pacific Islander person, White person, etc. racial slurs don't come pouring out of my mouth. Expletives, maybe, but not slurs. What I say in anger is a true reflection of the person I am. It's that simple. Anger is not an excuse for bad behavior - never has been and never will be.

Posted by Steve C., a resident of Menlo Park, on Aug 19, 2009 at 11:01 am

Sounds like there is something else going on here, maybe an on-going problem with unruly kids and/or unresponsive parents. I seriously doubt that anyone would fly off the handle like that, especially someone with the credentials and training of this individual, on the basis of one incident. That's assuming that the incident actually took place as reported. I would be interested in the backgrounds of the kids involved, and the backgrounds of the parents of the kids involved, who they are and what they do. It's easy to bear false witness against anyone, not so easy to defend against it.

Posted by Mr. Sanchez, a resident of the Charleston Gardens neighborhood, on Aug 19, 2009 at 2:32 pm

I side with the coach. Why say the coach lives in a trailer? Is the writer implying he is White trash? When I worked at M-A there was a heck of a lot of white guilt among faculty and admin. We were encouraged to pass non white kids just to get the graduation rate up. Gang affiliated kids got their way. I suspect the kids with the soccer ball could have been gang affiliated and taunted "whitey." Penninsulans need to realize that you can't carry gangy kids around on a pillow just because of misplaced guilt. Tough love and rules work.

Posted by Mr Gonzalez, a resident of the Charleston Meadows neighborhood, on Aug 19, 2009 at 3:15 pm

Mr sanchez--it is you who are suggesting that the coachis white trash--I think the reasin they mentioned the triler is to explain how a ball hit off the side would annoy someone--much less of a wall in a trailer. and talk about stereotyping, Mr sanchez claims that the kids are gang affiliated without any proof whatsoever and then proceeds to tar all minority kids at M-A. Really, Mr sanchez.

I agree with resident that we need to wait and get all the facts

Posted by jb, a resident of the Leland Manor/Garland Drive neighborhood, on Aug 19, 2009 at 3:44 pm

Maybe the coach has been working too long with teens. They can drive anyone around the bend.

For younger children, you can befriend many of them and turn the incident into a teachable moment. Rules and tough love only work if you have a relationship with the kids. Rules no one has heard of and tough love from a stranger just come off as abuse from an old meany.

Posted by ZC, a resident of Menlo Park, on Aug 19, 2009 at 4:54 pm

I can't believe this happened but I'm also not surprised. Racism will continue to be in this world regardless of what has happened to this older person. If you have worked with kids for over 30 years, then he should have had the patience to tolerate what happened to his home or trailer. I was a fellow graduate from MA and being a non white person, Mr. Sanchez needs to know that I didn't have any teacher pass me for the color of my skin. Again, I'm not surprised of this racist situation and would be very shocked if they allow this "coach" to return to MA.

Posted by MA graduate., a resident of the Greenmeadow neighborhood, on Aug 19, 2009 at 5:08 pm

I went to Menlo Atherton and I have a hard time believing that someone who works in such an ethnically diverse school would fly off the handle. I also had nothing but love for all the people in the PE departments, they helped me turn my life around. Needs some real facts.

Posted by A Noun Ea Mus, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Aug 20, 2009 at 4:16 pm

My my my...what are the right wingers to make of this one.

You want to always support the police and now they arrested someone they believed pushed a child.

Yet you also want to belittle any and all charges of racism, want to bring back spanking, want to demonize kids every chance you get.

I don't know what happened, but suspect that not to much of this should be made as regards either the kids or the charged coach----but this online spectacle is funny.

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Aug 20, 2009 at 6:25 pm

Bored kids can be obnoxious, particularly during summer evenings. Some kids upset people just because of their presence, regardless of what they are doing. Some kids like to upset adults, others are just playing. Either way, adults can get upset

I can remember as a kid having a neighbor who didn't like us riding our bikes on the path beside his house. Because of this, we rode by just to annoy him. The more he shouted at us, the more we did it. When he eventually told our parents, we stopped. All we were doing was riding our bikes on a public right of way - a lot. Our parents told us not to annoy the guy, even though he had nothing to complain about.

There are always two sides to a story like this. Some appear to choose to side with the kids. Others choose to side with the adult.

My personal take is that the guy probably over-reacted to kids continually annoying him and the kids told the parents an exaggerated version of what happened.

It is a shame if the guy loses his job over this.