That’s What She Said: Hockey Promoting Violence for Kids????

Since the first few games of the playoffs and all the suspensions that we have seen, there have been many people who have jumped on the  “Hockey is too Violent” bandwagon, including Canada’s Governor General, who inferred in an interview that the violence we are seeing in hockey is promoting violence to our youth and ruining our “Beautiful Game”.

I didn’t really give much credence to the comments because I think those statements are ridiculous and didn’t deserve my attention. In fact, it wasn’t until I heard a host of a popular sports radio show, (Fan 590) state that if his boys were to be starting sports today, he may not let them go into hockey, and that is when I decided it was time to weigh in. Firstly, these types of comments are either made to try and spark controversy or by people who obviously are not educated in the game of hockey at all. If you want to point a  finger at sports that would promote violence, perhaps you need to look at  UFC, MMA, or Wrestling. (and I am not insinuating that these sports should be  taboo either, but you can definitely argue they are more violent) Maybe even through Karate and Boxing in there for fun.

If anything, playing hockey teaches your children for every action there is a consequence. Just like most sports, you get penalized for not playing by the rules and you penalize your team as well. There are so many important life lessons that are learned when playing a team sport. That is why I introduced my son to hockey and baseball in the first place. Violence is in society. We are reminded of it daily with our nightly news shows. It is our jobs as parents to teach our children right from wrong. There is violence in video games, cartoons, etc. For example, does your child play EA Sports NHL? Because there is fighting in that game, and yes,  they get penalized for it in the video game as well.

You could argue there is violence in Mario Kart, a very popular game with young kids. Perhaps our Governor General  would like to ban the playing of all video games? People like to point the finger and blame the source of the violence, which is the easy way out. It is our job to let our children know what behavior is acceptable in the real world. It is our duty to ensure our children have a good set of morals and teach them the importance of respect, teamwork and accountability (which by the way, hockey does too).

So when grown men who are professional athletes get into a fight during a hockey game or make a play with intent to injure, the last thing I worry about is that my son will run out onto the playground the next day and crosscheck a classmate with an intent to hurt him or instigate a fight just because he saw it on an NHL game the night before. Why? Because I have done my job as a parent, and taught my child how to treat people, and hockey has only helped to reinforce those qualities!!

That’s What She Said