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As someone who tries to stay positive at all times, I still have moments of weakness where I sit back and wonder what is wrong with the world.

Oftentimes, I come to the conclusion that empathy is in far too short of a supply in our society. That thought rang through my head when I looked at a regional TV station’s headline that read “Albert Lea Girls Hockey pummels Austin into dust, 16-0.”

First off, I’m not going to argue that losing a game by that kind of a score should be spun into a positive achievement. You can’t always say “they tried hard” and ignore that the loss was overwhelmingly lopsided.

However, it is vastly important to remember that when you cover high school sports, you are dealing with high school students. These kids have to balance school, family commitments, part time jobs, changing roles within the household, and many other tasks, along with competing in their chosen sport.

Sports for high school students should be a place of refuge where they can have fun and enjoy time with their friends. The goal should always be to win, but sometimes that goal isn’t realistic — at the moment.

No team tries to get worse. The Austin girls hockey team, like most teams, is trying to improve.

No high school student, or college student for that matter, should have to read about being pummeled into dust in their local media.

From a journalistic standpoint, I understand the desire to try to be creative with headlines. But a good rule of thumb I use is that I ask myself how I would feel if somebody wrote my headline about my children or loved ones.

Again, empathy is always a shortcut to a better choice.