Dear Care and Feeding: Is It OK to Let Young Kids Cheat at Games?

Dear Care and Feeding: Is It OK to Let Young Kids Cheat at Games?

My 8-year-old nephew cheats at games constantly—Uno, hide-and-seek, cards; any game he plays, he cheats. He’s not great at hiding it either, and I’m not sure how to react when I catch him. I know it’s normal for kids to cheat at a young age; they care more about winning that how the game is played. But I also feel like I’m doing him a disservice in the long run if I just let him get away with it. Last time, when he went outside his parents’ established boundaries during a game of hide-and-seek, I asked him why he didn’t respect his parents’ wishes. In response, he told me it was a great hiding spot and the rules didn’t matter. His uncle and I told him we refused to play anymore until he started following the rules, but I’m not sure he really got the message. If I catch him cheating again, what should I do?

—Auntie Is Watching

Dear AIW,

Call out your nephew’s cheating whenever you see it. Most of us have let kids slide here and there, but the fact that he cheats every time he plays a game (at least when you see him) implies that he either doesn’t understand the meaning of cheating yet, or that he thinks it’s OK as long as the ends “justify” the means. Talk to him about what it truly means to win something. Explain that a victory from cheating isn’t a victory at all and that he’s ruining the fun of the competition for everyone playing with him. Be sure to lay out the possible social, academic, and professional consequences for cheating—if he has a favorite sport, it won’t be hard to find a couple of stars who have lost big time while trying to get a win the “easy” way. Good luck!

Read more

from Human Interest - Slate Magazine