Tips for Parents 
"You don't win silver. You lose gold."

That's the sour message of a sneaker advertisement that aired on TV during the Atlanta Olympics. Such omnipresent multimedia messages combined with a "winning is everything" philosophy embraced by increasing numbers of parents and coaches - makes it harder than ever for adults to teach kids that it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game that's important.

It's not surprising that the rise in bad sportsmanship - and outrageous behavior in professional sports has resulted in a parallel increase of poor sportsmanship (e.g., trash-talking, violence) in youth sports.