Two men were arrested Thursday for allegedly participating in a vicious brawl that took place after a weekend youth football game. They are accused of kicking a man in the head repeatedly.

Fortunately, out of the 25 people who participated in the brawl, no one was seriously injured or hospitalized.

This display echoes an alarming trend growing in youth sports and professional sports alike.

The term “sideline rage” has been coined as a new generation of parents/spectators have begun cropping up. Many not satisfied with the role associated with being a spectator and others vicariously participating through their children are choosing a more hands-on approach to enjoying a game. Sideline rage too often results in injury, mental trauma and death.

In 1996 an Albuquerque dentist sharpened the face guard of his son’s football helmet so he could slash opposing players. Six were injured, and as a result of his “modification,” the father was only sentenced to two days in jail and minimal community service.

A police officer, not related to any of the players on either team, was charged in Pennsylvania and sentenced to 23 days in jail after paying a pitcher two dollars to hit another 10-year-old player with a fastball.

And in one of the most prominent cases of sideline rage, a father in Reading, Mass., assaulted his son’s youth hockey coach in front of the team after complaining that the coach allowed the boys to play too rough. The coach was hospitalized with a coma and died the next day.

Richard Lapchick, head of Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sports and Society, said this behavior is a reflection of how this new generation of parents has grown up with violence in their own childhood being the norm.

Reinforcing Lapchick’s findings, Fred Engh, head of the National Alliance for Youth Sports, said today’s parents are very different from the parents of five years ago.

Steps have already been taken in a number of states across the country to stamp out sideline rage.

In California, the Positive Coaching Alliance holds workshops for coaches to stress the importance of being a positive role model over winning. El Paso city officials initiated a mandatory program to teach 800 parents sportsmanship training. Sen. Joseph Polisena, D-Johnston, R.I., has proposed a bill that would require every sports organization in the state to adopt a “no tolerance” policy discouraging any unruly behavior at any youth sporting event.

These are all good steps in solving the growing problem of sideline rage, but the reality of the situation will not be resolved until the entire country adopts a no-tolerance policy of its own, holding parents, coaches and players all accountable for their actions.

Editorial Board:Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Rachel Faber Machacha, Charlie Weaver, Zach Calef, Ayrel Clark.