Last year, domestic violence in professional sports started being a much-focused-on issue among the American public. This was in part triggered by some very high-profile domestic abuse cases arising that involved players in the National Football League.
Another professional sports league here in the U.S., Major League Baseball, has recently taken action aimed at helping to address the issue of domestic abuse. Specifically the MLB has decided that, this year, domestic violence education sessions will be a part of spring training for all of the league’s teams.
The sessions of the main domestic violence education program will be for players that are on the 40-man rosters of the league’s teams, and will be mandatory for such players. Reportedly, there will also be educational efforts aimed at players not on such rosters.
One wonders if such sessions will become a regular part of spring training from now on. Do you think all professional sports leagues should consider having mandatory domestic violence education for their players?
Of course, domestic abuse isn’t just an issue in professional sports, it is an issue throughout the whole nation. Incidents of domestic violence are troublingly common. What are your thoughts on the general state of domestic violence awareness in the U.S., particularly here in Texas? Do you think professional sports putting an increased focus on domestic violence issues has had any impact on the overall public awareness on such issues? How big of a help do you think domestic violence education is? Is domestic violence education something you think should be more widely present at schools and within professions?
Source: CBS Dallas/Fort Worth, “MLB Players To Get Mandatory Domestic Violence Education,” Feb. 24, 2015