How are we encouraging our Children?

Last night I went to a hockey game, The Boston Bruins & the NY Rangers.  It was a really fun game and the Rangers really showed their skill and team cohesion (probably why they won 6-1).  The best goal was when a Bruins player and Rangers player were trying to get the puck from each other right by the Bruin's net, when the Bruins player slipped on the ice and the Rangers player quickly skated around him and passed to another Rangers player who was about 10 feet in front of the Bruins goal, and he shot it right in.  Both the Bruins and Rangers fans had to appreciate that play.  It was sweet! 

After the first period, the entertainment came out onto the rink.  It was so cute!  Two hockey teams of children around the ages of 10 to 11.  They were all dressed up in Bruins and Rangers uniforms and they were all business getting right down to playing their mini-game.  It was so fun, but then it got a little, well, strange.  One child checked another child, and the crowd went wild.  Another child banged in to someone else, and the crowd cheered louder.  A few children almost got into a fight and the crowd cheered even more!  OK, I understand that this is what the adult players do, but they were almost worse than the adult players and should we really be cheering for this type of behavior?  Is it hypocritical to say that it's OK for adults to act that way but not children?  See, I have no problem with the general behavior of the adult hockey players, unless it is down right dirty or unnecessary, but when I saw the children playing that way, it made me pause and think about the cheering crowd.  Why were they cheering?

This isn't new.  We know that parents of little leaguers (just about all sports) sometimes behave inappropriately , -encouraging bad sportsmanship and a "winning is the only option" type of attitude (that's a generalization, but roll with it for a minute).  Perhaps I'm totally off base, I've never liked playing teams sports myself, -too much pressure.  Don't get me wrong, I think competition is important and team sports definitely develop many good character traits as well as physical activity (I would love to talk another time about how competition is being taken out of school sports, which I think is crazy).  But what do you think about cheering for children fighting on the ice?   How is that so different than fighting on the playground?

It's so obvious to me that we must continue to build playgrounds that focus their energy and attention on challenging play equipment and that encourage cooperation and socialization.  Furthermore, we can't forget this important group of pre-teen children who just are not interested in the standard playground equipment anymore.  Playgrounds are just one aspect of it, but it's one that I'm involved with and can do something about!

Of course, there is so much more to say about issues facing pre-teens today, but I should really stop there!  Please let me know what you think!

until next time,

Laura