According to the documentary School Violence, there is an enormous amount of physical bullying which happens and it is thrown under the rug. 77% of Ontario schools report no incident of school violence (school violence 9:10-9:13), which is ironic because it is inaccurate and false. It is also ironic in the sense that “men who happen to have “low education and low job offers repeatedly turn to illegal activities”(“Fathers and Fathering” 184). Clearly, the kids who do the hurting, have some sort of education yet turn to bullying as an act of rebellion.
In comparison to The Code, fighting is considered a part of the game. It took awhile for the hockey players who are fathers, to realize they would not want their children in a fight. The reason behind this is because “from the earliest days of a male’s childhood, cultures bombard children with messages about how to be masculine. Meaning, they must act dominant, independent, tough, and unemotional.” (“Defining Men’s Studies 2”)
What shook me most was the story of the nine year old, who was touched and abused. I found this absolutely disgusting and the worst thing was, the institution did not take correct repercussions. Thus, “1 in 4 girls experience unwanted touching and sexual abuse and 1 in 7 girls say they were sexually assaulted by another student (school violence 11:26-11:41). This correlates with a phrase that was stated by Tony Porter in Man Enough. He said that “violence has evolved. Misogyny has evolved.” Therefore, violence is portrayed around the media as a positive thing, to fight for what you want. However, when it comes to real life, physical fighting will not do you any good.
Aside from how violence impacts children, it also impacts a person both mentally and physically. Fighting in hockey causes concussions which eventually can cause dementia, depression as well as suicidal thoughts. We do live in a time and place where we have medication to treat many problems, but in this case, it is not reversible. The reason why fighting occurres in hockey is not only due to entertainment purposes, but also because this is the job of hockey players (The Code). 53% of workers happen to be a man according to 2010 statistics (“Men at Work” 233) . Therefore, men are considered breadwinners, for the most part. The fact that hockey players make money from playing and fighting, thrive hockey players to continue that habit.
In conclusion, school violence and fighting in hockey occur due to numerous reasons, whether it is to be an ideal masuline figure” or to act as the breadwinner, men have little choice as to how they choose to act since, their personalities and behaviours are chosen for them.
Works Cited
“How to fight for safer schools.” School Violence. CBC, 24 Oct. 2019.
Kilmartin and Smiler. “Defining Men’s Studies.” The Masculine Self, Sloan Publishing, 2019, pp. 1-7, Cornwall On Hudson, Accessed 25 Apr. 2020
Kilmartin and Smiler. “Fathers and Fathering.” The Masculine Self, Sloan Publishing, 2019, pp. 180-197, Cornwall On Hudson, Accessed 25 Apr. 2020
Kilmartin and Smiler. “Men at Work: Jobs, Careers and Masculinity.” The Masculine Self, Sloan Publishing, 2019, pp. 220-235, Accessed 25 Apr. 2020
“The Code.” CBC, 26 Mar. 2010.
Why CBC Started Looking into Violence in Schools | CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/school-violence-editors-note-1.5331402. Accessed 29 Apr. 2020.
Lovers and Fighters | Section 22 