How you view what Kyle Garchar did last week depends a lot on your mind set. To the officials at the 17-year-old's high school, he's a youth in need of punishment. To the people of the town of
Hilliard, Ohio near Columbus, he's a hero. And to
the people he hoodwinked? Well, their reaction may not be printable.
Garchar is a senior at
Davidson High School who came up with a plan to embarrass supporters of an opposing team during a football game last Friday. The young teen spent hours making up black or white construction paper placards that he left on the seats of those rooting for rival
Darby High. The fans arrived and saw notes asking them to check to ensure that the signs they found placed carefully in the stands corresponded to the seat numbers they'd been assigned. They were told to raise them in the third quarter, and spell out the booster slogan "Go Darby".
No one thought anything about it, until the moment came. As they all raised their arms in unison, they spelled out a message no one was expecting. "We Suck" it read, as the partisan crowd on the other side roared in laughter.
It took the young man hours in planning, but he believes it was worth it. "It was tedious," he muses. "I didn't really think it was going to work." But it did. To add insult to injury, the teen got the whole thing on video and
posted it on YouTube for the world to see.
School officials weren't amused and have suspended the enterprising student for three days of what's called "in-school" punishment, calling the actions 'unsportsmanlike'. Two other accomplices - both from Darby - were given similar penalties.
But most feel the sentence doesn't match the crime and newspapers across the country in the U.S. have reported on the story, urging the school to, in effect, 'lighten up'. They maintain the youngster showed incredible initiative and if he's not rewarded for his actions, at least his effort should be admired.
"We just thought it was all in good fun," admits an astonished 17-year-old Jen Trimmer, one of the others behind the nefarious plot. Many critics are now suggesting it's not just Darby that sucks - but the ogres at Davidson High, too.