Cheating - at sport and games

Contents

• What is cheating at sport and games?
• Why cheat?
• Cheating in games
• Cheating in sport
• What do I do if I have been cheating in sport?
• Dr Kate says

All kids know about cheating. You might know someone who has cheated, you might know about someone who has cheated or you might think about cheating or cheat sometimes yourself. So what does it mean?

What is cheating at sport and games?

	Deliberately losing or altering results.
	Not playing fairly, eg moving the wrong number of spaces on a board game in order to win.
	Telling lies to get an advantage.

Why cheat?

	To keep up with others.
	To look better than others.
	To win.
	To get more of something.

I guess what these people were saying was that kids sometimes cheat to make the team, or to keep up with their friends. Sometimes they cheat because they don't feel good about themselves and what they can do, or because they think their parents want them to be 'stars'.

Cheating in games

Many people (including grown ups) sometimes feel tempted to cheat in games because they want to win.

	Cheating in games in order to win isn't really winning is it?
	People who cheat know how they won and others in the game do too, even if they don't say so. Cheating to win games isn't really winning at all. If people go on cheating in games, pretty soon other people won't want to play with them.
Alex says, "It is a hard thing to say but cheating doesn't get you anywhere in the end."

Cheating in sport

All sports have rules. These are important to make sure that the game is fair.
If rules are broken then there are penalties.
Sometimes a player may get away with breaking a rule but usually the person in charge of the game, eg umpire or referee, decides on a penalty.
Millions of people all over the world are interested in sports of all kinds.
How awful it is when one of the sports stars is accused of cheating in some way.

	Everyone feels really 'let down' by that person.
	People forget all the great things that the sports star has done before and the biggest thing they remember about that person is that he or she was a cheat.
Cheating isn’t a good idea because even if you are never found out, you will always wonder if you might be.

What do I do if I have been cheating in sport?

If you cheat sometimes because you can't do well at your sport, ask mum or dad to help coach you, and to help you find the things that you are really good at as well. You might be surprised at the things you are good at. In the end people like other people because of who they are, and how friendly they are not how well they do.
Nowadays we often hear about people who seem to believe that winning, being successful, or being rich, are the only things that matter, so they have lied and cheated to get what they want. They seem to think that it is okay to cheat, and forget about having fun.

I wonder if the people they cheated feel the same?

What do you think?

Dr Kate says

Being sports stars nowadays doesn't just mean that they have to be really great athletes. It also means that they have to stay away from drugs, gambling and choose their friends very carefully.

They could be the greatest athletes in the world but no-one wants to be remembered for cheating in some way, rather than the skills that took them years to learn.

We've collected this information to help you to understand important things about staying healthy and happy. However, if you feel sick or unhappy, it is important to tell your mum or dad, a teacher or another grown-up.