How to Steer Kids Away from Cheating While Playing Sports
The recent doping crackdown by the International Olympic Committee is a reminder that there are consequences for cheating in sports, but winning tends to get bigger headlines. So what to you tell your kids about fallen sports idols?
FOX’s Lisa Brady has “FOX on Family”:
Even if we don’t mean to, are we teaching kids today to win no matter what?:
(Bauer) “Forget about sportsmanship, forget about being encouraged, or forget about hard work… It’s all about the scoreboard.”
But best-selling writer Joan Bauer, author of the new book ‘Soar’, says it’s hard to keep kids focused on having fun and doing their best when sports heroes are cheating from steroid suspensions in baseball to Olympic doping:
(Bauer) “We have to emphasize that no matter what, no matter how many people get on the news about this, cheating is never right because sports is about following the rules of the game.”
She urges parents to talk to kids about the temptation to cheat:
(Bauer) “And I think what parents have to constantly emphasize is that we want you to learn how to be your best, but you don’t have to be the best.”
She advocates starting early with family games, showing them it’s okay to lose, how to shake it off and praising the effort, not just the scoreboard: hard work and discipline as the way to excel in sports and in life.
With FOX on Family, I’m Lisa Brady.
