The high school football season usually begins on a positive note, even in those school districts that don’t have high expectations for a winning season.

Part of the appeal of high school football is the school spirit it builds. Unfortunately, the start of the region’s 2012 high school schedule has been marred by an allegation of hazing among football players in the Moniteau School District. An investigation is under way, and if the allegation is proven, it’s expected that punishment will follow.

While district officials understandably aren’t saying much about their investigation due to confidentiality laws governing students, the district at least has been open about acknowledging the allegation, revealing when the alleged incident was reported and when the investigation began, and that it’s continuing.

Coaches and officials in other districts should be stressing to their teams that, as Moniteau solicitor Andrea Parenti emphasized, “hazing . . . is against the law in Pennsylvania.”

Moniteau has an anti-hazing policy. Apparently, a reminder of its existence — and regarding the state law — wasn’t presented to players when practices began.

Whether reminded of the policy or not, players allegedly involved should have known better.

CheerDistrict Attorney Richard A. Goldinger and Sheriff Mike Slupe again have assembled a “Butler County’s Most Wanted” edition worthy of being kept by county residents as a crime-fighting tool.The supplement to the Aug. 27 Butler Eagle contains photos, along with the criminal charges, of more than 100 individuals being sought for reasons such as failure to appear for court proceedings, failure to pay fines or restitution or failure to pay on an enforcement order.“Butler County’s Most Wanted” contains information for anonymously reporting the whereabouts of those included in the edition. The information also is valuable for reporting information on others being sought by police or the courts.The unstated message of the special edition is that anyone can be an unofficial deputy in helping law enforcement authorities and the courts.No one should try to personally apprehend any of the individuals, but merely notify authorities of their whereabouts. Slupe, Goldinger, sheriff’s deputies and police will do the rest.Goldinger and Slupe deserve praise for their ongoing aggressiveness in working to get the “wanted” information before the law-abiding public.

Cheer The Seneca Valley School District’s latest attempt to combat bullying deserves positive notice — not only within the district but beyond.The district has become part of a service that will allow students to report bullying anonymously. The company operating the serv-ice will communicate with a school administrator when a bullying problem is reported, paving the way for the school to investigate and take appropriate action.What’s notable about Seneca Valley’s involvement with the service is that the district sought the anti-bullying help, rather than waiting for a sales pitch by a company seeking to sell its services. It’s anyone’s guess if or when a proposal might have been received.Apparently, Seneca Valley officials believe there has been enough of a bullying problem in the district to merit the expenditure for the service.Sprigeo, the California-based online company that will provide the service, says 500 schools in 21 states use the program.Seneca Valley can count itself among those with the good judgment to go the extra mile to battle a problem that unfortunately in many school systems across the nation is not aggressively addressed.School districts in and around Butler County reportedly are being more aggressive in trying to combat the problem. Nevertheless, those other school systems and districts beyond should pay attention to Seneca Valley’s experience with this service.Bullying has no place in school — or anywhere else.