Children are little angels. Bearing in mind this undeniable fact, we’ve pondered the finding of a survey released this week: that children increasingly cheat and fight their way to victory in school sports.

If you ask the kids who is to blame for their cheating, they finger their teammates, then their teachers and coaches, and then their saintly parents. Ask the parents who’s to blame for little Jonny’s fouls and they lay the blame at the door of naughty footballers and the like, according to the research by the Marylebone Cricket Club and the Chance to Shine school cricket campaign.

Once upon a time, pushy parents were easy to spot, their temples bulging as their child lost a third race in a row on sports day. But competitive parents have learned the error of their ways and are now teaching their offspring to play dirty.

What’s that we hear you cry? The research doesn’t really back up that assumption? But we would argue that children are blaming other children for pressuring them into cheating, and who is responsible for these other children if not their folks?

So, competitive parents, stop blaming millionaire footballers and head to the naughty step. And no diving, pinching or whingeing while you’re there.