How to eradicate violence in sport
Three years ago Raúl Sánchez, ex-soccer player, at the end of a meeting of a League of Veterans, received a kick in the back that caused injuries in two vertebrae and also the partial rupture of the cord, leaving it quadriplegic.
Currently, it tries to eradicate aggression and violence in sport giving talks in sports clubs, in schools and organizations related to sports, in order to avoid the repetition of cases like the one that happened to him.
Although it is not a new phenomenon, in recent months there have been several cases of violence in sport in the media: news, articles, videos and mobile recordings that are easily disseminated on social networks.
There are more cases in football fields than in any other sport, since football considered as the "king" sport has a massive following and arouses many emotions in the spectators.
Aggressiveness in the stands: the parents of the players
Fathers and mothers who attend school competitions or their children's games quite often are overly involved in opining, shouting and insulting about the rules of the game: against the referee's performance, they criticize the coach, that if the opposing team has committed a fault and not the whistle, whether or not it is a penalty. Also sometimes they shout orders to their children how to play better, etc.
The family must be aware that their children they learn by imitation of what they see. Children learn when they see or attend league games if adults shout, insult and threaten the referee and opposing players and also when sometimes a spontaneous spectator jumps onto the field with the intention of hitting the referee or a player.
If our children see this violence and aggressiveness they will be educated from the lack of respect and sportsmanship to the opposing team and in the culture "of anything goes" so that their team wins. Any action that provokes a strong emotion, as it can be the passion that soccer awakens, This passion can be learned and internalized with force and the child can react in a similar way in other similar situations.
The values of sport for children: eradicating violence
All the experts, coaches, referees and parents agree to consider the practice of sports as educational for the good physical development of the player and his future character and personality.
They also consider that it contributes positive values such as effort, competitiveness, perseverance ... and in the case of practicing a team sport, it contributes values such as respect for the rival, tolerance in arbitration decisions even if they seem to favor the team otherwise, "fair play", etc. Learning to practice fair play from childhood is essential in the education of children.
Although we do not think about it, sports can also favor negative values. Examples of these are when parents, and other family members and friends behave inappropriately when attending their children's games. In order to try to reduce these problems of violence, from the institutions, sports federations and the psychology of sport intervention programs are emerging so that the parents of the athletes assume a more respectful role when they attend the matches, compared to the performances of his children, referees and the opposing team.
Mercedes Corbella. Psychologist and diploma in Social Work.
