Listen to some good advice from 5th and 6th graders about how to teach your children about good sportsmanship.

• Remember that you are at a contest to support and yell for your team and to enjoy the skill and competition, not to intimidate or ridicule the other team and its fans.

• Remember that interscholastic athletics are learning experiences for students and that mistakes are sometimes made. Praise student athletes in their attempt to improve themselves as students, as athletes and as people as you would praise a student working in the classroom.

• Remember that a ticket to an interscholastic athletic event is a privilege to observe the contest, not a license to verbally assault others and be generally obnoxious.

• Learn the rules of the game so that you may understand and appreciate why certain situations take place.

• Show respect for the opposing players, coaches, fans and support groups. Treat them as you would treat a guest in your own home.

• Refrain from taunting or making any kind of derogatory remarks to your opponents during the game.

• Respect the integrity and judgment of game officials. Understand that they are doing their best to help promote the student-athlete and admire their willingness to participate in full view of the public.

• Recognize and show appreciation for an outstanding play by either team.

• Use only those cheers that support and uplift the teams involved.

• Recognize and compliment the efforts of school and league administrators for their efforts in emphasizing the benefits of educational athletics and the role of good sportsmanship.

• Be a positive behavior role model through your own actions and by censuring those around you at events where behavior is unbecoming