The Blame Game
My children play hockey. Hockey is a rough sport. It is Canada's passion but no one can deny that playing hockey competitively involves risk.
Yesterday my daughter was on a breakaway in her Tyke playoff game when she collided with the opposing defenceman and was knocked down. It took her a while to get up and she missed a few shifts recovering.
At the same time, one of my sons collided with another player in his house league game that resulted in the other child being knocked down. It took him a very long time to get up. Although it was obviously a penalty on my son's part, it was also clearly an accident with no intent to injure. The other player is my son's friend.
It turns out the other child suffered a head injury and minor concussion. Having a child suffer a concussion or an injury is every parent's worst fear. Concussions are incredibly worrisome and the long term implications are not well known.
I am worried about my son's teammate and his well being. We apologized to his parents for the unfortunate incident.
The challenge now is that one of his parents has a need to blame our son for the accident. Overwrought emotional reactions are understandable when children are injured. The hope is that a more considered and balanced perspective will take hold with time. The Blame Game helps no one.
