The lawsuit by Jeffrey Dixon against the Picayune School District is an unfortunate situation for everyone involved.

Regardless of the court’s decision, however, one thing has been made clear from the testimony. Dixon and at least one other freshman on the Maroon Tide baseball team several seasons ago were struck by other players in some form or fashion.

And that, simply put, is wrong.

We understand that in quite a few extracurricular activities, especially athletics, there is more than likely some form of “horseplay” involved with the participants. This situation, however, seems to have crossed the boundaries of what one should expect when he or she decides to represent their school outside the classroom.

We aren’t casting aspersions upon anyone named in the case or associated with the team or school in any way. We do feel that certain guidelines should be put in place to make certain that this type of action never takes place again in any type of situation.

We feel that going forward, all school related groups should discuss hazing, bullying and physically harming each other. It has been shown through news coverage of similar incidents throughout the nation that these types of incidents are not exclusive to athletics.

Situations like these fail to teach young people about camaraderie, which is what being part of a team is really about.

We certainly understand that everyone can not be “policed” by authority in every situation, it too often becomes a numbers game with students outnumbering school officials in almost every setting.

We are saddened by the fact that after this took place, Pearl River County eventually lost citizens to another state due to this incident. We should all strive to make one another feel at home in our small town environment, and in this case we failed.