Mark Hounsell: Education matters: The duck incident

It is best to avoid the mob mentality, especially when the emotion of anger is running high. It is obvious by the vociferous howling by many “keyboard warriors” and petitioners that people are angry. The wanton beating of a duck by a few members of the Kennett High School football team has resulted in emotions that are running high, accompanied by the demand for a pound of flesh. 

When I first heard the report of the incident, my initial reaction was outrage. I knew immediately that I would keep my mouth shut and not allow my anger to leak out of me through my mouth (or my fingertips). Most of us have learned (sometimes the hard way) that acting in a fit of anger can cause significant damage. Emotions serve as a warning from our subconscience to our conscience. Anger most often conveys the realization from our inner selves to our conscious selves that an injustice or a wrong has been perpetrated. When we respond quickly, while in that emotive state of anger, our expectations and demands for justice are skewed by a thirst for vengeance.