Alfie Kohn The Case Against Competition

1627 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Why competition is bad

Emilie Kennedy
Professor Serfling
Composition 1
10 December 2015
Dream to Compete According to Dictionary.com the definition of competition is, “the activity or condition of competing.” In order to succeed, people must compete. Competition can bring out the best in everyone. During a single day, people in some way compete with themselves or with others. For most children, sports are their favorite time of day. Going to practice and pushing oneself to get better, studying at night to make sure you ace the test, practice questions for the interview tomorrow, and working an extra shift for a few extra dollars to spend on nicer clothes are all examples of common competition. Throwing the best party, working the hardest, and winning are components of being the best. Competition is part of the everyday life, not something ignorable. Recent studies are showing that competition is not good for a child’s health or mind. As listed above competition is found in every aspect of life. Within a work staff, a classroom, even a friends group, competition is always there. On another note, children will not grow to be strong independent adults without competition in their everyday life. As humans we cannot ignore competition because it is so relevant to our everyday lives. Studies are …show more content…

According to Alfie Kohn in “The Case Against Competition,” “Most of us were raised to believe that we do our best work when we’re in a race — that without competition we would all become fat, lazy, and mediocre.” Ultimately, this has a bad perception on competition. Not all competition is athletically related. Of course, there is competition in fitness. Starting in elementary school, children take a physical education test to see how many sit-ups or pushups they could do, and it was always your goal to be the best in the class. Competition is also present in school and against

Show More
Related

  • Kohn's Argument Analysis: The Case Of Competition

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    All things considered, competition can be either benevolent or unacceptable. Being competitive in most activities or events is not always appropriate, and in some cases, competition could bring up negative feelings if not everybody was treated the same or

    Read More

  • Get Off That Couch And Play Competitive Sports

    1466 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lastly, in youth competitive sports you can learn how to win and lose politely, which is important to the feelings of your competitors. Even though teens can learn these skills in school and in their household, competitive sports provide another way for children to interact and experience how to use life skills in the real world. Another example from the article, “ Pros and Cons of Sports Competition at the Highschool Level,” it

    Read More

  • Play Not Compete By Jessica Stasky Argumentative Essay

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” Jessica Stasky proves that how adult competitive games are harmful in so many ways for children. She highlights the physical and psychological problems, loss of good future players and the pressure which children handle to fulfil the desires and wishes of their parents as three main downsides of such high standard games due to which children entire life get affected.

    Read More

  • Is Competition Over Emphasized In American Society

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    For instance, I am a competition dancer. Going to different competitions you can see the differences in the way the dancers, teachers, judges, and moms view outcomes. The teachers just want you to do your best because no matter the placement received you had fun. When you are on a team, you want your team as a whole group to compete with other teams not each other. You see this with other sports too, such as baseball, basketball, soccer, etc. where kids try to outperform their teammates. This poses risks such as “loss of self-esteem, injuries… increased stress.” (Berger, pg. 245, 2014) However Active play and competition do not only pose risks they contribute to the following as well “Better overall health, less obesity… respect for teammates and opponents.” (Berger, pg. 245, 2014)

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: I Believe In Competition

    390 Words  | 1 Pages

    With competition, people have incentive to improve. Last fall, my father had the idea for the two of us to have a competition and see who could do more sit-ups by the end of the year. This would be part of my offseason baseball training and his normal exercise. We were both doing hundreds of sit-ups a day, and I eventually won. In the end, we were both the winners because this was very good exercise for our body, which probably would not have been done without the competition. At the end of each of my basketball lessons, my coach and I would play a short game of one versus one. At first, he would always win. I grew tired of always losing to

    Read More

  • Compare Andrew Carnegie And The Gospel Of Wealth

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    The law of competition brings the best out of people to strive for greatness and contribute to not only the economy, but to themselves. Wealth is only achieved through great knowledge and proving oneself to be the best in any given situation or their respective career field. Knowledge is the ultimate factor pertaining to the law of competition and it is for an individual's best interest to obtain great knowledge. According to Carnegie a disadvantage under the law of competition is that there will always be friction between a boss and the employee’s, capital and labor. Also, human society loses its ability to be in a homogeneous

    Read More

  • Competition in Austen's novel Emma

    1520 Words  | 4 Pages

    Competition brings out the most in people. It makes people act and react without putting thought into their actions; which brings out one's real feelings and/or real skills. This is true across the board. Competition is found in all walks of life from school, where you are competing within your class for the best grade, to sports were you are competing to come out victorious, to love where you are competing for one's love. If any of these situations were lacking competition, then the truth would never be seen. For example, if no one in a class put any effort into their work, who ever is number one in the class would not have to work hard to remain on top, and probably would not work to their potential. Yet if someone was right on their level and was competing to become number one in the class, both of them would have to work harder, working to their full potential, settling for nothing less than a victory of the other student. Competition is a positive thing, when used in a positive way. It helps a person or animal to perform to their own personal best while facing their inner most feelings. This is true with every one of these examples and especially with love.

    Read More

  • Write An Essay On The Effects Of Toddlers And Tiaras

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    Exposure to compete overstretched disappointment and sexuality of a kid at an early age leads to adverse negative effects on the growing young child. Exposing the child to competition at tender age exposes them to improver development, both socially, physically and emotionally (Cartwright 1105-1107).

    Read More

  • Sports Influence On Culture

    1633 Words  | 4 Pages

    There is a misconception that competition is bad, if a child can experience the thrill of winning and the disappointment of losing, they will be well equipped for the reality of life. Competition provides stimulation to achieve a goal; to have determination, to overcome challenges, to understand that hard work and commitment leads to a greater chance of success. Life is full of situations where there are winners and losers; getting a job; a sports game; not getting into a desired college. People need to learn how to cope with disappointment and then to look forward to the next opportunity to try again. Competition also teaches us to dig deep and find abilities we never knew we had. The pressure to win or succeed can often inspire more imaginative thinking and inspire us to develop additional

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay Sports

    1282 Words  | 3 Pages

    Confucius once said, "he who does not do well is less guilty than he who pushes too hard." People found that competitive sports are often physically straining and it is detrimental to proper emotional development. This blows away the misconception that competitive sports create a healthy and engaging atmosphere for kids. This and an overly strong obsession with winning create a toxic mix for the child’s wellbeing. People have begun to realize the world of competitive may be doing more harm than good for their children. Parents have also begun to notice that competitive sports often injure their children severely and also make the child feel left out, which in turn is detrimental to the child 's emotional health. Therefore, competitive sports

    Read More

  • The Cons of Unhealthy Competition

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    Healthy competition can drive people forward. Allowing a kid to doing what they want because they enjoy it can open them up socially by allowing them to reach out and teach others that don’t have that same niche. If we force a child to be overly competitive, this decreases the child’s ability to grow in other areas in life because they are too focused on being the best. If they don’t live up their standards of being the best, this will cause the child to be insecure about their abilities and they will constantly seek approval. Unhealthy competition can detrimental later on in life when trying to get into a great school, find a partner or in getting a job.

    Read More

  • Should Children Participate in Beauty Pageants?

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    of not only the competition but often the unrealistic expectations of their parents. Those in

    Read More

  • Competition Is Not Good For People

    1434 Words  | 3 Pages

    Competition produces anxiety, which can interfere with learning and disassociates with one’s own body. It is not instinctual because it is taught and it damages people and creates stress in their life. Competition teaches people to give their worst while they only focus on what their fellow mate is doing. I agree with Rubin that “competition limits people’s ability to lead happy and satisfying lives”, for I am assured that competition is destructive to children’s self-esteem, it interferes with learning, sabotages relationships, and isn’t necessary to have a good time.... ...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Spelling Bee

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    Competition is a good thing because it forces us to do our best. Here is what the duo had to say to one another before the competition

    Read More

  • Is competition good? Is there an alternative?

    1194 Words  | 3 Pages

    Yes, it is to a certain extent. Competition is good for us as it challenges each individual. Without competition, there would be no standards and we would not know how to improve on areas we lack. In addition, we may not know where we stand, be it mentally, physically and academically. Different kinds of competition challenge us in different aspects and helps us to progress and move with times.

    Read More

More about Alfie Kohn The Case Against Competition

Open Document