Are High School Sports Corrupting Our Values?

Koach Karl - Here's Part 4 of the Josephson Institute Report…

Josephson Commentary

Are High School Sports Corrupting Our Values?

One of the most influential adults in the life of a high school athlete is his or her coach. A coach can teach much more than how to play a game, a coach can teach values about preparation and discipline, coping with great disappointments and, most importantly, about what is acceptable and proper in the pursuit of victory.

The good news is that most coaches are doing a good job teaching life skills and instilling ethical character traits that last a lifetime. According to a new report by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, What Are Your Children Learning? The Impact of High School Sports on theValues and Ethics of High School Athletes,* the vast majority of highschool athletes say their coaches "consistently set a good example of ethics and character" (90%) and that they "want them to do the ethically right thing, no matter what the cost (91%)." Most athletes become stronger and better people because of their sports experience.

The bad news is that way too many kids are learning negative lessons. It seems that sports promotes rather than discourages cheating. Thus, varsity athletes are much more likely to cheat in school than the general high school population (67% to 60%*). What's more, lots of coaches — especially in boys' basketball, baseball and football — are teaching unsportsmanlike and illegal techniques from outright cheating (tampering with equipment or altering the field of play) to sleazy gamesmanship tactics (such as watering down a field or motivating players with profanity and insults).

The report concludes, "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."

It doesn't have to be this way.

Every sports parent and school administrator ought monitor the values being taught and insist that coaches teach, enforce, advocate and model good ethics and good sportsmanship. And, if you can't change the coach, change the coach.

* The figures for the total high school population are based on a 2006 Josephson Institute survey of 35,000 students. The highest cheating rates were for those involved in football (72%), girls'softball (72%), girls' basketball (71%), cheerleading (71%), hockey(70%), and baseball (69%). Female cross country athletes (39%), malecross country (53%), male swimmers (53%) and female swimmers (57%) were the least likely to cheat in school.