As a newspaper, we are obligated to report news — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

For us, it doesn’t make any difference who the people are. If it’s news, we do our best to investigate, research, and report it in a fair and balanced manner.

When students “sign up” to play sports or become members of organizations, they are representing the school district and the community.

When we discovered that two Marion High School athletes had been arrested in Newton, we felt bad — bad for their parents, bad for the school district, and especially bad for the teens who made an error in judgment.

Even though these are students, and most are under the age of 18, they are still expected to behave in a specific manner. That’s why the school district has policies and procedures that require students to obey rules if they are going to exercise the privilege of participating in extracurricular activities.

This newspaper reports the happenings of games and meets.

We pat students on their backs for winning judging contests.

We praise students who show character and make positive decisions.

We like reporting those things and will continue to do so.

Besides representing this community, athletes and members of organizations are role models for children who dream of being a member of a debate team or football squad.

Punishing those who do not follow the rules sends messages to other athletes that certain behavior should not be tolerated.

This is the kind of news that we are not happy to report but when it happens, we are here to present the facts and let the public decide for themselves.

— susan berg