Macallair's group, whose goal is to find alternatives to incarceration, points to the public furor over school violence as an example of such a phenomenon. Despite the recent media attention, his group cites statistics indicating that the level of school violence in America actually is lower than it was in the early 1990s. Older statistics on school violence do not exist. Additionally, federal statistics indicate that violent crime, including juvenile violent crime, has been declining for years. And then you go back and see that people were saying that about kids then.
People have very short memories.
But in a society where winning is rewarded and athletes are worshipped, experts agree that the atmosphere at youth sporting events is intense. A 1996 study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicated that many high school athletes in that state believe on-field intimidation and violence are normal parts of sports. Edgar Shields, a professor of exercise and sport science, says his study of more than 2,000 male and female athletes in a broad range of sports showed 80.7 percent accepted intimidation and 44.9 accepted on-field violence as part of the game, even though 56.4 percent thought physical, verbal or gesture intimidation was bad sportsmanship. Still says sportsmanship needs to be taught to young athletes, many of whom may be emulating behavior by professional athletes as well as their parents and coaches. Four years ago, when Roberto Alomar spit on umpire John Hirschbeck, we had never had an incident like that before at the youth level.