Manners Matter: Ages 9 to 12

Sporting Behavior

The Right Foot

What do you like about playing games or sports? When is the activity most fun to you? Most people enjoy a game the most when all the participants play fairly and no one argues or fights. After all, playing is supposed to be fun.

Civil Action

Do at least one of the following two activities with your helper's guidance.

1. Gather friends or family members to play a game. It could be an athletic game like basketball or dodgeball, a board game, or a parlor game like billiards or ping-pong. You might even hold a tournament.
2. Attend a sporting event with your helper. It could be a competition among your peers or a high school, collegiate, or professional game.

Extra Polish

Athletes are often in the public eye, so their behavior gets a lot of attention. Outstanding athletes sometimes become celebrities. Some have a reputation for being friendly, outgoing, and generous. Others are known for being foul-tempered, vain, or boastful.

Make a scrapbook of athletes or other competitors you admire. Also include players who have behaved badly in public. Draw their pictures or clip photos from magazines or newspapers. Underneath the pictures, jot down adjectives or phrases that describe the person.

Finishing School

Share

• What should you do if someone breaks a rule or a referee makes what you think is a bad call?
• What sportsmanship rules, if any, did you change after talking to your helper?
• What examples of good sportsmanship did you observe? What examples of bad sportsmanship did you observe?
• How does it make you feel when you cheer for someone? How does it feel when someone cheats or insults someone else?
• If you attended a sporting event, were there activities that "brought everyone together?" If so, what were they, and why were they important?

Process

• How can you root for your team without being rude to the other team?
• You've probably heard the expression, "It's not important whether you win or lose, but how you play the game." What does this saying mean to you?
• How is it different playing a one-on-one game than playing as a team?

Generalize

• Why does it matter if you are encouraging or nice to an opponent?
• In what other ways do you play fair in your life?

Apply

• How can you use what you learned to be a better player? A better student? A better friend?
• In what ways do you see your parents, teachers, or other adults being civil and encouraging to one another?