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sl8

(16,245 posts)
Wed Apr 26, 2023, 06:28 AM Apr 2023

Town forces argumentative parents to be umpires at Little League games

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Living/town-forces-argumentative-parents-umpires-league-games/story?id=98810329

Town forces argumentative parents to be umpires at Little League games
Parents have been caught on camera yelling and fighting with game officials.

By GMA Team
April 25, 2023, 8:30 a.m.

Little League season is underway and one New Jersey town is introducing an ingenious new rule to crack down on misbehavior after parents were caught on camera berating and yelling at referees and umpires at youth games.

Referees and umpires are often volunteers and there's been an increase in resignations with the rise in shouting matches. It's an issue impacting the Little League players in Deptford Township, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia, where two volunteer umpires have quit in the last week.

"They're coming here, they're being abused, they don't need that. So they're walking away," Deptford Township Little League President Don Bozzuffi told Philadelphia ABC station WPVI.

So now, the Little League officials in Deptford Township have created an innovative new solution to combat the trend. If a parent or another spectator fights with an umpire, they have to volunteer to officiate themselves for at least three upcoming games.

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Town forces argumentative parents to be umpires at Little League games (Original Post) sl8 Apr 2023 OP
What's sauce for the goose .... bucolic_frolic Apr 2023 #1
Prediction: They will be terrible umpires. tanyev Apr 2023 #2
That sounds like a really dumb idea Effete Snob Apr 2023 #3
This is similar to having kids who cheat at games become "rule keepers" - Earthrise Apr 2023 #4
 

Effete Snob

(8,387 posts)
3. That sounds like a really dumb idea
Wed Apr 26, 2023, 07:06 AM
Apr 2023

So, they are going to put people with demonstrated temperament problems in a position where other people are going to pick fights with them?

That's just plain stupid.

"We're going to force alcoholics to be bartenders and see how that works out."

Earthrise

(15,672 posts)
4. This is similar to having kids who cheat at games become "rule keepers" -
Wed Apr 26, 2023, 08:11 AM
Apr 2023

Assigning the role of ensuring everyone else follows rules to kids who cheat at games is a neat social-psychological trick. Having acted in public as if they believe following the rules is important - they're more likely to follow them in the future. It works.

I don't know if it will work in this context, but it seems like a novel approach that might work.

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