Jonah probably thought he had it all figured out. The seven-year-old grade two student had tucked his spelling words under his desk and was consulting the list during a test, just to make sure he got everything right. Unfortunately, the teacher caught him cheating. ?She told him she was really disappointed in him,? says his mom, Tracey Ratelle-Westdorp. ?I think he did it to get her approval?if he got the words right, she would be happy with him.?
Ten-year-old Sam* has also been known to cheat, but for different reasons. ?He?s been super competitive since he was little,? says his mom, Kathryn Ratner.* ?When we?re playing games, he tries to fake the rules to benefit himself and he gets upset if I correct him. He has a hard time when his team is losing at baseball and insists the ball wasn?t foul, for example. When he?s playing tag with his friends, he?ll say he wasn?t tagged.? It doesn?t feel good to witness or hear about your kid cheating?whether it?s on a test or in a board game or when playing tag at recess. But cheating is common in the elementary school years, says Jennifer Kolari, a family therapist in Toronto. ?It?s a normal part of development,? she says.
Kids cheat to avoid the icky feelings that come with losing or doing badly at something, says Kolari. They?re also only thinking about themselves. ?The whole idea of winning and losing is a concept kids have to grow into because they?re incredibly egocentric,? she says. Your kid can?t quite yet grasp that losing wil...