I’ve written several posts about my son’s love of hockey. In fact, I’ve even compared him to Sidney Crosby. He’s obsessed with hockey in so many ways. He loves playing hockey in our basement, collecting hockey stickers, watching it on television and he even has dreams about hockey (we’ve heard him sleep talk about the Pittsburgh Penguins). He’s just over three and he already has a great slap shot and knows how to stick handle like no one’s business.
However, the recent (or truly, the ongoing) fighting events that have transpired in the NHL has got me worried about my son. We let him watch hockey games because he enjoys them and it is bonding time with his dad. However, he is also getting a glimpse into the not-so-nice side of professional hockey, the fighting. Just last night, Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik was taken off the ice on a stretcher after a confrontation with Boston Bruins forward Shawn Thornton.
Incidents like these are making my ever observant three-year old now obsessed with pretending that he’s getting injured while playing hockey. While playing in our basement he’ll declare: “Maple Leafs vs. Edmonton Oilers, I’m Edmonton Oilers” and the game is on. Within a few minutes of running around, hockey stick in hand, the ball getting shot here and there, he says “that guy tripped me!” pointing to one side of the room. He then asks my husband or I which team got the penalty and which team got the power play. While I believe his intentions are to understand the rules of the game, there’s also a subconscious understanding that violence is part of the game.
Fighting in hockey is likely one of the most debated topics in professional sports, I wanted to weigh in from a mom’s perspective. Whether my son pursues hockey as a career or not doesn’t worry me at the moment. I’m more concerned about his exposure to the violent side of hockey. What are the long term implications, if any, for my son? One one extreme, will he become a more violent person because of his exposure to this? Will he always associate rough-housing with hockey, or any play for that matter.
So… what’s a mom with a hockey-obsessed son to do? Do I shelter him from reality and not allow him to watch the games? It’s obviously important for me to talk to him about fighting in the game but I’m not even sure how I could begin to explain and justify it. What would you do?