Grapple-
You say that athletes are given more lenient punishments then others. however thats not quite the case, in this example if Nathan Furches wasn't an athlete there would be virtually no punishment, not to mention the mistakes of non athletes are not publicized, so from that standpoint these kids(especially Furches) were punished more then non athletes..
second off all, your comparison about athletes/celebrities dealing with being absolved of one crime and then committing another one more malicious seems to be talking with professional athletes and celebrities. that is not what were dealing with here. we have high school kids between the ages of 15-18. making that comparison is apples and oranges.
also i have to wonder, what do you find admirable in a person? everyone makes mistakes in life whether they are of high character or not character. people of high character admit to those mistakes and apologize to those it negativly effected. i'm not saying that posting an apology online is an act of ultimate heroism, but if you don't respect a man for owning up to his mistakes and apologizing to those they effected i have to wonder about who do respect.
you also say there is to much grey considered in cases today. unfortunatly sir, life usually doesn't deal with matters of black and white.
yes, the kids were given a fairly lenient punishment. but whats wrong with that? a little grace, mercy, and a second chance is what all of us would want if we were in the situation.