Children weaned on watching famous sportsmen cheat are using the same tactics in school sports, according to new research.
Most parents believe their children are influenced to cheat after seeing celebrity sportsmen and women bend the rules on television.
The influence of badly-behaved celebrities is revealed in a new survey that also blames the ‘pressure cooker’ of school sports for helping to create a win-at-all costs ‘cheating’ generation.
Footballers like Liverpool's Luis
Suarez, who is often criticised for using tactics such as using his hand
to control the ball and diving in the penalty box, and other celebrity
sportsmen like drugs cheat cyclist Lance Armstrong are among those
believed to have had an influence on young children.
But the atmosphere within schools is to blame as well, according to the survey by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and cricket charity Chance To Shine.
It showed that nine in ten youngsters believe their team-mates feel under pressure to win and almost two-thirds (64 per cent) think this leads them to stoop to underhand methods.
The survey of more than 1,000 children aged eight to 16, and their parents, found that three-quarters believe other team players would cheat if they had the chance to get away with it.
Children revealed a lack of remorse among their peers, with 37 per cent believing that their teammates did not care if they won by cheating. Five per cent were said to be happy or proud if they’d succeeded at all costs.
Only 16 per cent of those surveyed said their teammates felt guilty after cheating to win.
Children had been subjected to a range of unsportsmanlike actions, with four in ten experiencing professional fouls.
Nearly a third (32 per cent) regularly watched time wasting and almost a quarter (24 per cent) had witnessed diving.
When the children’s parents were asked, nearly two thirds (65 per cent) said they believed that cheating by high profile sportsmen and women is ‘adding to the pressure on young people to copy them’.
Wasim Khan, chief executive of Chance
To Shine, said: ‘It is a real concern to us that so many youngsters
struggle in this ‘pressure cooker’ to win at all costs.
‘We teach children the importance of playing sport competitively and fairly whilst also respecting the rules and the opposition.’
To help teach young people how to play sport in a competitive but above board spirit, MCC and Chance to Shine are delivering a nationwide scheme to encourage ‘fair play’ in schools.
From today, Chance to Shine coaches will deliver assemblies and lessons in good sportsmanship to around 400,000 children in 4,500 state schools as part of the MCC Spirit of Cricket scheme.
Derek Brewer, chief executive of MCC, said: ‘This survey highlights the pressure children feel under when playing sport.
Most parents believe their children are influenced to cheat after seeing celebrity sportsmen and women bend the rules on television.
The influence of badly-behaved celebrities is revealed in a new survey that also blames the ‘pressure cooker’ of school sports for helping to create a win-at-all costs ‘cheating’ generation.
Children copy famous footballers like Luis Suarez, above, who appeared to use his hand in an FA Cup match earlier this year
But the atmosphere within schools is to blame as well, according to the survey by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and cricket charity Chance To Shine.
It showed that nine in ten youngsters believe their team-mates feel under pressure to win and almost two-thirds (64 per cent) think this leads them to stoop to underhand methods.
The survey of more than 1,000 children aged eight to 16, and their parents, found that three-quarters believe other team players would cheat if they had the chance to get away with it.
Children revealed a lack of remorse among their peers, with 37 per cent believing that their teammates did not care if they won by cheating. Five per cent were said to be happy or proud if they’d succeeded at all costs.
Only 16 per cent of those surveyed said their teammates felt guilty after cheating to win.
School sports now have a 'pressure-cooker' environment with children desperate to win, the study showed
Nearly a third (32 per cent) regularly watched time wasting and almost a quarter (24 per cent) had witnessed diving.
When the children’s parents were asked, nearly two thirds (65 per cent) said they believed that cheating by high profile sportsmen and women is ‘adding to the pressure on young people to copy them’.
'It is a real concern to us that so many youngsters struggle in this "pressure cooker" to win at all costs".
- Wasim Khan, Chance To Shine
‘We teach children the importance of playing sport competitively and fairly whilst also respecting the rules and the opposition.’
To help teach young people how to play sport in a competitive but above board spirit, MCC and Chance to Shine are delivering a nationwide scheme to encourage ‘fair play’ in schools.
From today, Chance to Shine coaches will deliver assemblies and lessons in good sportsmanship to around 400,000 children in 4,500 state schools as part of the MCC Spirit of Cricket scheme.
Derek Brewer, chief executive of MCC, said: ‘This survey highlights the pressure children feel under when playing sport.
This year gold medal-winning cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted being a drugs cheat