Not dodge ball!
Posted on 02/19/2007 5:45:02 AM PST by Zakeet
Conventional wisdom holds that sports builds character, but a new survey suggests U.S. high school athletes cheat more than classmates who don't play sports.
The two-year study of high school athletes -- conducted by the Josephson Institute of Ethics in Los Angeles -- also found growing acceptance of cheating as a way to gain competitive advantage, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Michael Josephson, president and founder of the institute, told the newspaper the report -- based on interviews with 5,275 high school athletes across the United States -- found that many coaches are "teaching our kids to cheat and cut corners."
"There is reason to worry that the sports fields of America are becoming the training grounds for the next generation of corporate and political villains and thieves," said Josephson.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
Therefore, I fearlessly predict that this new cause will soon take its rightful place among such worthy liberal missions as promoting gay marriages, adopting the Kyoto Accord, and banning red meat.
"Michael Josephson"
Always picked last....
LOL. And probably wasn't the best dodge ball player either.
The only reason I see sports not building character is the coaches. They set the tone for the team. I've seen too many coaches let bad, obnoxious and unsportsman like behavior go without dealing with it.
A "Milhouse," no doubt.
Liberals cannot understand sports.
Ooops, and refs, too. They have to make the calls equitably for BOTH teams. When refs give away the game because of calling either calling everything on one team or nothing on the other, it cuts into the character building. I watched a game where the other team so deliberately injured one player that he HAD to leave the field because he could hardly stand. They were not called on any of it.
As for "corporate villains", it is not likely- to get to these corporate echelons requires an IQ above and beyond that found in an athlete. Exceptions are possible, but rare.
Not dodge ball!
If he only interviewed the kids, how does he know what the coaches told them? So-and-so told me such-and-such is not a very scientific methodology.
And if he only interviewed athletes, on what basis does he claim they cheat more than those who don't play sports?
True, but "Role models" like Koby Bryant, Magic Johnson, Michael Irvin,... have done more to destroy the task of building the character of young athletes than any liberal could ever do.
Football is tough....
They can't because at it's basis is competition which means there are winners and losers. The left considers those circumstances to be unfair.
The foul nursery of eeevil capitalists! Yes!
Thanks! BTW, they still play dodgeball in our town's schools.
British football- soccer. And it was the goalie they were beating up. It didn't happen in one incident but over the whole first half. There were at least four separate incidences that were clearly seen from the stands.
The only reason I see sports not building character is the coaches. They set the tone for the team. I've seen too many coaches let bad, obnoxious and unsportsman like behavior go without dealing with it.
&&
Exactly. Playing as part of a team, learning to build physical and mental skills, and self-discipline are among the top character-building benefits of athletic competition, but such virtues can be twisted by the wrong kind of leadership, as you say.
I have seen coaches help kids game the system academically just to keep them eligible. This is what makes cheating seem acceptable to the kids.
I don't know about mine. I graduated high school 12 years ago and we were still playing it. Heck it was the main event of our winter carnival.
Gee, no kidding.
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