It’s acceptable – endearing, even – for Southerners to act a bit boorish when cheering on our college football teams.

“The bleachers provide fans a less complicated space where we can more comfortably display our more primal selves,” wrote Dr. Matthew Goldenberg, a Yale psychiatrist, Birmingham-native, and Alabama fan in a recent Al.com article about why humans love football. “Where else is chanting, yelling, booing or even crying not only accepted but expected?”

That’s fine at Bryant-Denny or Jordan-Hare. But it’s deplorable – shameful, even – at an elementary school.

But that’s precisely what some parents do.

They scream at 9-year-olds.

They berate referees (often volunteers).

They demand that their bewildered child pass, score, run, hustle, or perform any number of barked-out commands that are often in direct opposition to the coach’s directions.

They spew rancor and verbal sewage all over their children, your children, and you – and spoil otherwise beautiful Saturday mornings.

And then, come Sunday, they lift those same hoarse voices high in a Hallelujah harmony at church.

Why, pray tell, do parents act like this?

Goldberg said his sense is that some of the same psychological impulses driving fan behavior also drive parental behavior.

Those behaviors can include “Displacement” – when we shift our bad feelings about one area of our lives to something less threatening, “Schadenfreude” – a tendency to take pleasure when others fail, and “Splitting” – avoiding life’s ambiguities by resorting to black-and-white thinking.

“Identification is [also] an obvious answer,” Goldberg said via email. “Their child’s success or failure is a reflection on them.”

Parents may also be worn down and short-tempered after spending an entire day attending multiple travel team games, according to sports psychology expert Dr. Joe Ross, president of Huntsville-based firm Higher Echelon and longtime youth sports coach.

And the stakes may feel higher because parents spend so much more money on their kid’s sports than parents did decades ago, Ross said.

What are these parents so mad about?

Research suggests youth sports game anger is most provoked when parents perceive that referees, coaches, players, or other parents are acting uncaring, unjust, or incompetent, according to the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.

Regardless of the reasons, bad sideline behavior at youth sports games is counter-productive.

Research shows that when kids are yelled at, they can experience stress-induced physical responses that negatively affect their performance. They are also at risk of developing mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

Parents should remember that kids are still learning and enjoy the process, regardless of wins or losses, Ross said.

“We’re not at school standing over their shoulder yelling at them during their Algebra test,” Ross said. “We allow that process of learning to go through. It’s the same process in sports.”

I once attended a middle school basketball game at Lindsay Lane Christian Academy in Athens and was taken aback by how calm, quiet, and respectful their parents were.

In all my years watching our five kids play roughly three sports each, I had never witnessed anything like it.

What’s their secret?

Lindsay Lane Head of School Stephen Murr said in a phone interview he was grateful that the community was a good example, acknowledging that he does have to address inappropriate fan behavior from time to time.

“There’s an emphasis on letting people know what we expect,” Murr said. “All of our athletes sign an agreement and the parents sign a code of conduct. We don’t think it’s a good thing for us to boo, to laugh at people who mess up. We’re there to cheer our kids.”

In other words, folks, ain’t nobody wants to hear you screamin’ at children.

Save it for the stadium.

Rachel Blackmon Bryars is a Huntsville-based writer, co-host of Belle Curve Podcast and managing partner of Bryars Communications, LLC. Connect with her at rachel@bryarscommunications.com.