By: Pat Daley

  Thank you Marty McSorley for restoring my faith in people.
  It's not what you did. It's how everyone has reacted to the way you skated up behind another hockey player and swiped his head with your stick.
  Some commentators are wondering if McSorley's punishment - a record 23-game suspension - is just cynical posturing on the part of the National Hockey League. Perhaps. But I think the public's response is genuine.
  It's not so different from the wave of revulsion that swept through many Canadian homes after Fifth Estate aired its interview with Toronto police union head Craig "You could call me a bully" Bromell. People want police, but they don't want police brutality. In hockey, they want enforcers to act like police, not thugs. That's the good news.
  Unfortunately, it's the fight promoters who seem to have a platform for reaching millions of people every Saturday night. Their rock 'em, sock 'em attitude is still leading kids to believe that you can solve problems with your fists. When they do, voices are raised demanding a tougher Young Offenders Act. Everyone wonders what's wrong with the kids.
  Anger management is right up at the top of the problem list for kids receiving treatment at the Robert Thompson Youth & Family Centre in Cookstown, Ontario. Elizabeth Dayus is Director of Services there. She says they insist parents participate in their child's treatment because usually they have an anger problem too.
  Dayus says the centre doesn't encourage aggressive kids to join in activities like hockey. They try to steer them towards martial arts like karate that teach self-control and respect.
  That's a good thing. So is the punishment meted out to McSorley. And so is the way Vancouver police are continuing to investigate the incident instead of leaving it solely to the NHL to handle in-house.
  Over the last 10 to 15 years, school boards have done a lot of work to make peacemaking, mediation, anti-racism, learning to deal with bullies, and other anti-violence programs an integral part of the curriculum. I believe we're seeing some of the impact now in the reaction to McSorley.
  My 22-year-old nephew dropped by for a visit this week. He thinks that in another 10 years there won't be any fighting in the NHL because the public isn't going to want to see it. That's the best news I've heard all week.

Pat Daley is a freelance writer and editor in Athlone in Simcoe County, Ontario.

Get More/Do More
To read the NHL's statement about McSorley's suspension, please visit www.nhl.com/news/mcsorley022300.htm.

There are lots of sites on the internet related to Peacemakers and other anti-violence programs. For starters, you can check out The Online Healthy Relationships Project, a Nova Scotia curriculum pilot, at hrc.ednet.ns.ca