As a camp counselor, babysitter and future teacher, I have always told children the saying that I was taught when I was young, “Winners never cheat, and cheaters never win.” The thing is, I’m not sure how relevant this saying is anymore.

Political leaders, celebrities, athletic teams, and others, are leading by examples that cheating is OK. Melania Trump showed that there isn’t a penalty for plagiarizing; whereas in college, if you plagiarize, you could be expelled. The Democratic National Convention’s leaked emails show that they were potentially working against Bernie Sanders. Maybe he would have never won as the Democratic Nominee anyway, but now we will never know.

Hillary Clinton has spoken at various venues, accepting thousands of dollars for speeches. Both political parties are doing whatever it takes to win the presidential election and earn money to fund the campaign, even if it means cheating.

Why are we OK with this cheating? We are numb and not surprised by their outrageous actions anymore. What happened to working hard and actually earning something on your own? I’m just tired of this election. I’m tired of the drama and each candidate trying to one up each other. It’s just exhausting. All of the accusations and hatred each candidate feels for one another is just annoying at this point. Why do we have to bring others down to make ourselves feel better?

I tell kids I’m working with to just worry about themselves. Children look up to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. They are watching and listening. When they see that presidential nominees are linked to cheating scandals, it shows that they cheat and that it’s OK. They are showing that all that matters is winning and it doesn’t matter how you get there.

At the end of the day, we can’t point fingers at each other and place the blame on another person. We are accountable and have to live with our own actions, nobody else. We have the freedom to make our own decisions. Just because you can cheat, whether it’s on a writing a paper, in a sport’s game, in a relationship, or anything else, doesn’t mean you should. Because if you get caught, there’s no one to blame but yourself. Cheating is a choice, not a mistake.

Maybe times have changed. Maybe the saying should be changed to, “Cheaters always win, and losers never cheat.” Apologies don't mean anything if you keep doing what you are sorry for. I think we should all take notes from Leslie Knope, who always said that she would rather lose with honor than win by cheating.