Sports Promotes Rather Than Discourages Cheating

Koach Karl - Here's Part 2 of the Josephson Institute Report…

Among the most prominent findings:

Major Gender Differences. There are dramatic differences in the attitudes and behavior of male and female athletes. On virtually every question girl athletes expressed a deeper commitment to honesty and fair play and were much less likely to endorse cheating or other questionable practices in the pursuit of victory.

Some Sports Are Worse Than Others. Boys engaged in baseball, footballand basketball are considerably more likely to cheat on the field and in school and to engage in conduct involving deliberate injury, intimidation and conscious rule-breaking than boys involved in othersports. Generally, boys participating in swimming, track, cross country, gymnastics and tennis were markedly less likely to cheat or to engagein bad sportsmanship than their male counterparts in other sports. Girls involved in basketball and softball were more likely to engagein illegal or unsportsmanlike conduct than girls involved in other sports.

Theft. Athletes are less likely than non-sports students to engage in theft - still, more than one in four male athletes (27%) admitted stealing from a store in the past 12 months compared with 32% of boys not involved in sports. The highest rate of theft reported was from male gymnasts (36%), football players (33%), and male basketball players (32%). One in five girl athletes (20%) engaged in theft compared to 23% for all high school girls. (Q21)

Cheating in School. High school students involved in sports cheat in school at a higher rate than their non-sport classmates. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the boys and girls participating in sports cheated on an exam in the past year in comparison to 60% of the total highschool population (based on a 2006 Josephson Institute survey of 35,000 students*). Whether this enhanced propensity to cheat is due to values that put winning over honesty, or a reflection of pressures to stay eligible, or simply difficulties managing their time given the high demands of sports, the fact remains that for most kids, sports promotes rather than discourages cheating. (Q20)

Next blog: Actual statistics from the Josephson Institute Report