The comment made during a televised hockey game stuck with me. A commentator was describing penalties that should have been called and the players who got away with it adding, 鈥淏ut during the playoffs if you鈥檙e not cheating, you鈥檙e not playing hard enough.鈥澛� The implication is that when big games are on the line coaches and athletes should look for any edge to get the win; leverage every advantage. But to so easily invoke an expectation of cheating is rather troubling. Troubling, but not surprising.
We hear news of a cheating scandal with parents using their considerable means to get their kids into the 鈥渞ight鈥� college and it might make us shake our heads but really, were we surprised? Influence peddling is something we鈥檝e come to expect, isn鈥檛 it?
Nine years ago a film documenting the amount of cheating taking place in Canadian educational institutions left me disheartened. It isn鈥檛 just students. Parents, teachers and school officials have been caught in wide-spread, highly organized efforts.
Yet there鈥檚 nothing new here. Researchers discovered silk booklets believed to be about 200 years old that students used as cheat sheets tucked into hats, the soles of their shoes and even their underwear to pass exams.
Methods have changed, and certainly become more sophisticated, but it seems cheating has always taken place. That may be nothing new. But what has changed is the attitude toward cheating. It鈥檚 easy. Everyone is doing it. It鈥檚 the only way to get ahead, so claim some of the students interviewed.
Experts say adults created this situation. Since students see cheating going on in sports, entertainment and business, they learn that cheating is simply what is needed to succeed. When mom or dad join in to make it possible there is an endorsement of the practice. A Rabbi interviewed for the documentary commented, 鈥淲e鈥檙e a very loving generation, and in our mistaken understanding of love, and in our all-out obsession to see our kids succeed, we鈥檙e prepared to do really, really weird stuff.鈥�
Seriously? Is this where we are at...or鈥aybe this is where we have been for quite some time.
It鈥檚 been 30 years since the thrilling 100-metre victory at the Seoul Olympics by Canadian Ben Johnson, only to have that thrill turn to heartbreak when he was stripped of the medal for using a banned substance. The subsequent inquiry and push for stricter testing gave the impression that this was a game changer. Yet 30 years later the question of doping in sports is murkier than ever. It begs the question鈥攈as anything really changed?
Then came the news last week that the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee has resigned amid a vote-buying scandal that helped Tokyo secure the 2020 Olympics.
Not to be forgotten are the sad statistics related to infidelity. Worldwide, 57% of men and 54% of women say they cheated in a past relationship. The numbers admitting they would have an affair if they knew they鈥檇 never get caught are 15% higher. Canadian numbers come in a bit lower, but that鈥檚 little consolation.
So, is all lost?
A garbage collector notices an envelope with a gift card inside as he loads a ripped bag of trash. After his shift he drives back to the house in his own car and delivers the forgotten card. A homeless man comes upon a piece of expensive jewelry and decides against pawning it, choosing to keep it safe until the owner comes looking for it. She did, and he returned it. A Vegas cab driver finds more than $200,000 cash in a laptop case in the backseat of his cab. He turns it in and the owner is able to re-claim his laptop and winnings.
When I mentioned these stories to a group one day the first question posed was, 鈥淒id they get a decent reward?鈥� Really? Not admiration for what had been done? Not gratitude that there were good people who did the right thing? Sadly, just a query waiting to see if these people had been compensated. If we have de-valued honesty to this extent it is not surprising to see how easily cheating can reach the proportions we are seeing.
Stories of integrity in action are heartwarming to be sure, but the fact that we point them out indicate we don鈥檛 see them as the norm. Wouldn鈥檛 it be great that instead of 小蓝视频 seen as newsworthy, acts of honesty and lives of integrity were to become rather commonplace. Just imagine how things could change if we made the extraordinary downright ordinary. That鈥檚 my outlook.
