With the world watching the New England Patriots go through another scandal, The Boston Globe published an article raising the important lesson that “Deflategate” could play in the raising of their children. Entitled “What can I tell my kids about Deflategate,” the two authors take a unique view on the situation, in an effort to help parents explain this scandal to their children.
“The Patriots’ checkered past can serve as a cautionary tale. Whenever I’ve caught my kids cheating at something, I’ve told them, “That’s not a reputation you want to have. People will assume the worst.” Look what happened to the Pats in their first playoff game, a week before this controversy arose over deflated footballs: Baltimore coach John Harbaugh also accused them of playing fast and loose with the rules. Without going into the intricacies of the X’s and O’s involved, I’ll just note that Belichick was designing plays that were within the rules but unlike anything the NFL had seen. So he was being an innovator, not a cheater. But because of his reputation, red flags were raised. There’s a lesson in that for kids. Once you’re labeled a cheat, everything you do becomes scrutinized, not always fairly.”
“Deflategate brings up so many teachable moments. Kids need to know that no organization is pure, for instance. According to the New York Post, the other Super Bowl team, the Seahawks, leads the league in performance-enhancing drug suspensions. And it’s important to emphasize that people (or teams) shouldn’t be defined by their worst actions. The Barry Bonds Family Foundation helps fund outreach programs for African-American youth in San Francisco. Nixon opened China. But let’s not be patsies about the Pats: If they cheated, they must be held accountable. Any other scenario is just too deflating.”
Basically insisting that when kids ask about “Deflategate”, you can teach them a lesson about how no matter how creative they are in life, once you get a reputation for being a cheater, it’s hard to shake, no matter how honest you may be. The article also goes on to imply that the NFL is a much more important part of American’s daily lives than people realize.
What do you think about this tactic? Do you think kids really want an explanation for “Deflategate”?