The mother of the child who was getting yelled at was beside herself with concern. She didn't want her child to be hitting illegally, so she asked the other fans if these hits were clean. The general consensus was that they were clean.
This mother asked me what she should have done--approach the yelling fan or walk away?
In my opinion, this guy most likely wanted a confrontation. I advised the mom to walk as far away from him as she could. There are no benefits to getting into an argument with him.
If she did choose to argue with him, what good what it do?
- embarrass both children
- cause a scene
- get one or both parents kicked out of the game
1 comment:
Kim,
I agree with your advice. if this guy would yell at a kid like this, he'd yell (or more) at the parent. And contributing to that scene isn't going to help your kids.
If it were me, I'd probably try to talk with someone in charge after the game-someone in authority--who might be able to do something about the yeller, at least for future games. Probably, I'd do this, because I'd be so mad I would have to tell SOMEONE! :)
But most of all, I would talk to my child after the game, make it clear WHO was in the wrong (the yeller), and talk about why I hadn't yelled back. I'd really try and think about how I'd want my child to react to t his kind of situation when it was up to them, when they were older, and see if I could be a decent role model.
This stuff happens all the time, not just in sports. We all have to learn to exist with the jerks--when to let it go, but also when and HOW to draw a line.
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