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Show “WASATCH COUNTY COURIER pee ing Matt Heimburger, Contributing Writer patterns to some in nature with Pegs poner" b bball claw, cliff,-absolute darkness, etc., all . As irrational as sg Mgrenyi nampa © certain sense | < sere hae Those who did _ eH yea Pi POG rae AA fears down to us over ngegt oleae } ’ rational countless generations. Inherent controversies over evolution aside, the article brilliantly sets up an explanation for something that makes . little sense to me today: why so many of us display irrational fears of such things as snakes, spiders, dark parks, ranmare? woe me ~ ae er" - | lat on Those that did passed on the genetic codes for such of selfto. us, shadow the on back ~ envi- not. We see a creature with two too many legs more hair on those legs be there, hear the furnace an unusual clown-shaped > porch-and our to fear RY al ae ree Sea spiders, heights, opera? of snakes, | bi at Laileinddtaeal We spiders are hobos, So much for rational fears. The course, when night comes, But how do What about fears of the future, the unknown, to make sure we’re ott ft . en ci Lan with people who believe that our federal government has come under the that es. Schools at all levels may want to consider incorporating an ethics class as a part of the school’s curriculum. Step 8—Educate the Fans This last step is directly related to Step | | be celebrated musicians _ develop strategies to develop .an mean a kind of anarchy that would not — within by rock and roll (except for the fact that many of them are already in the cate-_ gory.) Imagine Lord of the Flies twenty-four hours a day and as the central organizing. principle of a society, you get the idea. But to react to deiees and passions, fears, and dreams on Halloween night-that’s probably a very healthy exorcism of insecurity. A way of saying that while help appreciation. and fans © under- _ standing of sportsmanship. Ideal Sportsmanship. Many folks assert that participating in sport builds character. More than this, many parents, coaches, and administra- tors justify the importance of sport’ participation as a result of its characterbuilding aspects (Docheff, 1997; Sage, 1998). If we can assume that a person of character is one who is fair, respectful, courteous, and generous, then, we will want to strive for more than the abolishment of violence and cheating. As can be seen from. our, beginning scenario, the true nature of sportsmanship may go beyond, the abstinence of winning at all costs. If He’s taken to sleepwalking- we live in fear, we are powerful enough parents, coaches, and administrators are right into our bed, at right about the bewitching hour.. He’s fighting his” to propagate a little ourselves. If we _can display it of our own choosing, and even laugh at ourselves in the process, sincerely interested in developing character among athletes, they will want to Talk about living I want him to keep a healthy skepticism about life’s real dangers-for they But | don’t want him > where he’d rather sacrifice his independence and freedom for the ‘security of the locked room in the locked house in a locked world. of control over the tentativity of our lives. And, if we have the power to athletes how to be fair, respectful cour- then scare, we then determine own exercise we how a good have we uncertainties, amount the will power react to to our which-let’s face it- make up a lot more of our lives than the certainties. We control far less than we think; live in cautious wonder far more than we sometimes want. _ No wonder we put on fangs and claws, paint our faces green, and walk like the mummy just released from the tomb one night a year. We’re reenacting the story of ourselves. That we choose to become the embodiment of our ancient rational fears makes perfect sense since that’s what we have learned little to turn off his reactions; if anything they confuse him even further as _. Yes, ability to distinguish between rational and irrational is about as good as his ability to spell the two words. Perhaps it is in that seeming paradox, then, that Halloween takes on its intended meaning in -our society. After: all, it is a holiday with a long history-and a deep mythological attrac-_ -tion. It is a time when we not only. we want to be scared . on Halloween because we know-that the next. day will be a whole new mystery to deal with. Come to think of it, perhaps it is on the rest of the days of the year that we should run, screaming. teous, and even generous individuals, — perhaps we legitimately car claim that sport builds character. Z ) Resources _ Arnold, P.J. (1994). Sport and moral education. Journal of Moral Education, 73(1), 75-89. Beller, J.M., & Stoll, S.K. (1993). and my logical explanations do very his make strides toward the ideal nature of © sportsmanship. If we can teach young somewhat to control our responses to.. Halloween is a time to celebrate these feats of accomplishment, even if we suspend our normal rationality in doing so. * the unseen, the unprovable? It seems . to me that we are in the grips of a conspiracy theory craze. I’ve talked seriously with many people who believe in extraterrestrial life visiting our little - planet and doing unspeakable things to overly-speakable people.* I’ve chatted recognizing Is it wrong to celebrate the grotesque? his decorations, music, and masks at Day’s He knows when he’s scared ~ Market. types of envelopes indicate medical bills. you train away the irrational? of in The practice of pioreanowe or the general practice of morality can be . extended into the classroom. Teachers can take opportunities to teach ethics and morality when the opportunity aris- ~ could He keeps asking me if monsters are scary. If I say yes then he asks if _ Grover, Elmo, and the Cookie Monster » are scary since they are clearly monsters. If ] say no then he seems even more distraught at himself since he involuntarily responds to frightening. or cure which tradition “much of who and what we are exists on even point ourselves, of our rational fears through education and: common sense. We may not be able to turn off the fear mechanism, but we can put it into perspective by knowing which snakes bite, which logical away from. beset with-them to the point where he’s overwhelmed by what might happen. Especially if it ever reaches the © continued can be cured, we When — cate. definitely exist. tion. No, fear-whether in an evolu- ~ tionary or revolutionary sense-has existence. a if you realize that our winning and losing. in two worlds. Yes, there are our and identity for one night out of each year, _we are building on the grand mytho- fight or flight mechanism-against the rational and irrational-and he’s both ring Paulie Shore really can harm us if we approach them without due cau- for desires hose, and black smudges on his face. | But with every skeleton, witch, or vampire on doors or windows, he begs _ earshot. Hopefully not, since some snakes, some spiders, all heights, and anything star- importance our subversive does so to be exhibiting psychopathic behavior; for a whole society, it could - “Dad” ‘methods from hypnotism to “scared straight” therapy to Bob’s baby steps. But do they really cure us of the fear? great them — we teach our children to choose a new involuntary nature kicks in and as he falls asleep he shouts out “Mom” or Can we condition overcome parade the holiday far sooner that I expected. He already chose to be a “fiya-fidah” ‘complete with hat and coat, garden Of NOt. ourselves nesses, his fear, especially in the daylight. . And gets braver with each request. giving us the chance to choose the fear At least initially. fears, but don’t care what anyone thinks. _ thing is, he knows he’s scared of these things. He says so. But he’s courting to raised hackles. In short, there seem to be some things that scare us without OF it tele _ to be able to change his costume. fears, real or imagined, trigger defense ~ mechanisms. Our bodies warn us. of impending danger by going through a battery of triggered responses from increased heartbeat to faster breathing - ee suiiads. our around for all the world to see. We're open about our insecurities, our weak- — just what should be passed on? My lit- ~ It depends. Everyday? Yes. We would tle 2-year old has become enamored of probably consider an individual that but think. about the others-we have ronments or on the wall and a little than should hiss, or see admit But that’s my problem this Halloween- perhaps the last two are quite rational given today’s pervasive urban culture, whether applicable to our new eae children. and axe-wielding maniacs. Okay, okay, hung on to many methods preservation passed down competition. the natural and animal worlds to that x a far deeper level than our Franklin Five, “Create a Sportsmanship Pp Sup: EnvironPlanners would tell us. When we dress of our own creation. We may not have ment.” To establish the consummate up ourselves and attend masquerade to worry about the glowing eyes of a _ sportsmanship environment, fans also parties where we are surprised at how lion stalking us through the high grass, must be sportsmanship practitioners. It but our mechanism for not liking to be | little we know about lifelong friends, © may be difficult for athletes and coachand are secretly thrilled behind our watched remains in full force. And es to practice sportsmanship amidst a masks at how little they really know there is just enough random violence hostile crowd of fans. It also may be difin our human-made communities to — about us, we are acknowledging the ficult to corral fans into a sportsmanship force us to have to consider the possiarchetypal reality of the human race: program; however, there may be other bility that something could happen, that we jump and dance, laugh and cry, ways. One way may be through the that our fear mechanisms remain sharp to music far deeper than our rational ~ development of a media committee that and are ready to be passed |on to our mind and Sony boombox would indi-— our species developed an aversion to dense forests, leering eyes, and. not do so did not survive. aes fears have long ago shifted to the reality, even the possibility, of | tell-tale signs of such dangers. Thus, approaching darkness. spell. of, if not iss leaders and our world in general-deciding which of us should live as spicy and which end up extra crispy. amidst an environment that was anything but civilized In the interest of self-preservation, we learned to react or Step 7—Teach Sportsmanship/Ethics - the Classroom themselves, then something far worse. Last I heard, Colonel Sanders himself was pulling the strings: of our world automatic trepidation. Their theory is that somewhere along our evolutionary path, our species learned to fear that which could truly cause pain: tooth, a practice % Matthew Heimburger is a teacher of— American history and literature at UVSCWasatch Campus and at BYU. He lives with his wife and son here in Heber Valley. ~ Sportsmanship: An antiquated concept. Journal of _ Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, O4( 6), /4-79. Clifford, C., Gr Feezell. R.M. (1997). Coaching for character. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. - Docheff,D. (1997). Character in sport and physi- | cal education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 68(9), Bde 37 Docheff, D. (1998). Character in sport and physical education-summation Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 69(2). 24. : Hawes, K. (1998, June | A. Sportsmanship: Why should anybody care?. NCAA News, pp. 1, 18. Gough, R. (1998). A practical strategy for emphasizing character development in sport and physical education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 69(2), 18-23. Kretchmar, R.S. ( 1994). Practical philosophy of sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Sage, G. (1998). Does sport affect character development in athletes. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 69(1), I, 18. Spencer, A.F. (1996). Ethics in physical and sport education. Journal of Physical Education, ~ Recreation &:Dance, 67(7), 37-39... + meme = react ; page 1, Att magazine Discover we why discuss re of a s. edition soemat in this Scich aa ia structures with house povenine questions. Ideally, the coach should use” examples that may have occurred dur- » of our + fears. A breakdown ee antenna emma, Llane | in des * “Are ee |