Story done?

[gospringboks]

I'm in a bit of a bind here. I got a tip from a local prep football player's coach. He told me the kid had been through a lot and, piecing together things from our archives, sounds like the kid has been through a ton of traumatic events. It's the most compelling story I've ever heard, hands-down.

One problem: The kid doesn't want to talk about it.

He is, by my estimate, 16 years old. Do I push and work him to try to get him to talk, or do I acknowledge that he's still a kid and has been through hundreds of more traumatic events in his short time on earth than I'll ever know and forget about the story?

The journalist in me sees it one way. The human sees it the other. I'm leaning toward my human side.

 

[txsportsscribe]

as a human being, leave the kid alone if he doesn't want to talk about it.

as a journalist, leave the kid alone if he doesn't want to talk about it.

 

[Joe Williams]

as a human being, leave the kid alone if he doesn't want to talk about it.

as a journalist, leave the kid alone if he doesn't want to talk about it.

Bravo, TXS!

 

[Some Guy]

I would try to massage it a little. Maybe get to know the parents. Maybe get to know the kid a little better. And try again.

I wouldn't drop it altogether. But I wouldn't push too hard. Be sensitive. Maybe this is something you can revisit at some point.

 

[mike311gd]

Keep your eye on things, but I wouldn't pry into it, not with him being 16. Eventually, he may want to talk. Unless he's doing something illegal, in my opinion, you shouldn't force yourself into a story with a high-school kid.

 

[deskslave]

I'd say let the kid know, gently, that you've heard about what he's been through, and that if he ever feels like talking, you'd love to do a story. Then just leave it at that. He's probably got a hundred reasons not to want to do it. If he decides he does, great. If not, that's his prerogative.

 

[Flash]

What TX said ... but let him know the offer remains open, should he ever decide he wants to talk.

 

[huntsie]

Be a human being first, and a journalist second.

 

[rpmmutant]

This might help. When I was covering high school soccer, there was a player on one of the girls teams who had an older brother who died while he was in high school. The older brother was popular, played soccer too, everyone in the school knew the story, but the little sister didn't want to talk about it. She turned into the best player on the team, led the team to CIF championship game, ended in a tie. Her senior year, she decides she wants to talk about her brother and how he influenced some of her decisions in high school and soccer. Just took patience and a little compassion to get the story out. My advice, be patient and don't push it too much. And try to talk to the kid about playing football and being in high school. He'll come around.

 

[sportshack06]

Maybe get to know the parents.

My guess is in this situation, parents are not in the picture.
Or if they are, probably grade-A pieces of ****.

 

[slappy4428]

I had a situation like that last year, about a boys basketball player with Bulimia...
Just before I left for the house, the dad called and said mom (divorced from dad) pitched an absolute fit and wanted no part of it, even tho dad and the kid (who lived with dad) were willing to talk.
I asked dad why not talk, since the kid lived with him. His response was it would make life simpler...
What could I do?
Mom tried jumping me at a game later in the season and I told her "was there a story in the paper? Your son gave his permission, and it might have helped some other kids. But you chose to kick and scream and there was no story. And there is no conversation." and walked away,.

 

[Bob Slydell]

You can keep trying, maybe try to develop some trust with the kid. But if he won't talk about it, there really is no story there. Especially for a 16-year old kid.

 

[kingcreole]

I just did a story about a college football player who has "turned his life around." The SID tipped me to the story but wouldn't give me what exactly he turned around. Neither would the coach, although it was obvious the coach was proud of this player doing the "right things."

So I talked to the player. When I asked him about the things he used to do, he mentioned vague stuff like missing classes, sleeping in, etc., and trouble he'd get in. I asked if that was anything he could go into more detail about, and he just dropped his head and shook his head.

You can't force people to talk about things like this. If you know for a fact what happened to this kid, be careful with how you write it. But again, you're dealing with a high school kid. If he doesn't want to talk about it, it's best to leave it on the back burner and try again later.

 

[Ace]

Bottom line, you can't do the story without the kid's cooperation, period.

Also a warning: If you do a story like this about some kid turning his life around, they are most likely going to lie or massage the truth a little bit.

So be careful saying this former truant who used to throw stones at his neighbors windows is now a team leader and all-around good guy. You may find out that he also burned down his neighbor's house.

If you get into this you got to really be specific on what the kid did. You may not choose to put everything in the paper, but you don't want any nasty surprises.

Also, there will probably be relatives and such that don't come off very well. Better try to talk to them beforehand rather than after they see themselves in the paper.

 

[TheMethod]

My top 3 rules for writing about high school kids.
1. Get it right
2. Be sensitive
3. You're wrong, a bad writer and also an asshole

 

[212areacode]

Go talk to the kid, not the coach.

 

[Rhody31]

Bottom line, you can't do the story without the kid's cooperation, period.

Also a warning: If you do a story like this about some kid turning his life around, they are most likely going to lie or massage the truth a little bit.

So be careful saying this former truant who used to throw stones at his neighbors windows is now a team leader and all-around good guy. You may find out that he also burned down his neighbor's house.

If you get into this you got to really be specific on what the kid did. You may not choose to put everything in the paper, but you don't want any nasty surprises.

Also, there will probably be relatives and such that don't come off very well. Better try to talk to them beforehand rather than after they see themselves in the paper.

I think you can still do the story if you talk to enough people around the kid ... it's tough to say though, without knowing the topic.

 

[Ace]

Bottom line, you can't do the story without the kid's cooperation, period.

Also a warning: If you do a story like this about some kid turning his life around, they are most likely going to lie or massage the truth a little bit.

So be careful saying this former truant who used to throw stones at his neighbors windows is now a team leader and all-around good guy. You may find out that he also burned down his neighbor's house.

If you get into this you got to really be specific on what the kid did. You may not choose to put everything in the paper, but you don't want any nasty surprises.

Also, there will probably be relatives and such that don't come off very well. Better try to talk to them beforehand rather than after they see themselves in the paper.

I think you can still do the story if you talk to enough people around the kid ... it's tough to say though, without knowing the topic.

Unless the kid is the greatest high school football player in the land, why would you want to dig up all the travails of some underage kid based on second-hand accounts when the kid doesn't want to talk.

Wouldn't be worth the time you put into it.

 

[wickedwritah]

He's 16, meaning you have another season or two to work on him.

Don't view it as working on him, either, view it as getting to know the kid, what makes him tick.

If after six months you develop some rapport with him, then you can extend the offer.

 

[Pilot]

Sit down with the kid and give him some Jesus juice. He'll open up.