Today, children get awarded for almost everything from scoring the game winning goal to just being on the team. Whether or not to give kids participation rewards is the center of this argument and an ages old question many of us have and will face. There are some valuable pros and cons on this topic and this essay will cover the most important of them. Even though providing these participation trophies to kids is believed to boost their self esteem they often provide unrealistic standards and insufficiently prepare kids for the real world as well as not help to distinguish excellence in all aspects of life. Building children’s confidence when they are young is beneficial in order for them to be confident about themselves in the future. Giving out …show more content…
This means there is no reason to outwork the next individual to receive an award. So, why should both kids get rewarded? Eventually, children reach an age where they understand that receiving participation awards is not the same thing as winning. In the New York Times article “Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message,” Betty Barden, a student-athlete states, “I believe that we should change how we reward children. Trophies should be given out for first, second and third [place]; participation should be recognized, but celebrated with words and a pat on the back rather than a trophy.” The child that worked the hardest and achieved the most should be awarded. These participation awards are showing children that they do not have to perform to their full potential to be rewarded. One would not want their child thinking that they can put partial effort into things or do them the wrong way and be rewarded. If this is the standard that is set then these children will not have the mindset to win because they know that everyone will be rewarded no matter what, so why should they even
Our society has shifted its beliefs in how we should treat competition in young people. The question is asked, should all kids get a participation trophy? As it may seem to be an unanswerable question, it honestly isn’t. Thought that the participation trophies may send the message that “coaches” value the kids’ efforts despite their abilities, trophies do not need to be given out. Your words mean just as much when you remind an athlete that you value them in more ways than one. Some may think trophies are a great idea because it shows that everyone’s a “winner.” However, I disagree with that idea. I believe that kids should know that they need to work their hardest in order to be rewarded and understand that not
Priceman states,”They were taught that these awards were placeholders in life. They were records of accomplishment.” It reminds kids of their hard work in a sport. In some cases participation awards are okay, like special needs, and if used correctly, to build a child’s self esteem. But in many cases it does not help children in real life. By giving them too many awards some kids think they cannot live up to the hype, and it brings their self esteem down. While others are the opposite, “When parents regularly overpraised their children’s performances, their children were more likely to be narcissistic two years later”
A solution could be improved by only handing out trophies to those who have earned them. There have been many studies to show the harms of participation trophies and how they can affect a child’s future. One study has shown that “if coaches use trophy presentations as a way to acknowledge each player’s unique effort or contribution, that message can be powerful” (Ross), but the fact is that many coaches will not do this and for that reason participation trophies must be banned from youth athletics. When coaches hand out these trophies they are sending the message that they don’t care and just want the children to always be acknowledged as “winners.” Participation trophies have also diminished the value of true awards, and can make the children who have put in the effort and hard work not feel the reward they should. “In the kid’s movie The Incredibles, the evil villain tries to give everybody superpowers. His theory is that if everyone is special, then no one is special” (Krumrie). This is very true in our society and needs to be implemented by regulations and rules to make sure this does not happen. These rules and regulations would be set by athletic associations across the country to ensure the use of participation trophies are not used in sports. The directors will come
A participation trophy can help a child's drive to improve. When a child plays a game and loses, but then watches the other team get a trophy they feel that they suck and won't try to improve. Once they get a participation trophy they make the child feel like they did good and that next time if they get better they will get a bigger trophy for winning and not losing. For instance, “Further, studies also tell us that children who participate in sports get better…”(Huffington 1). This exemplifies that children who participate feel the drive to get better at the sport. When inferring that since they participated they are getting an award if makes them feel like they did good, and then they want to get even better to get a better reward. Thus making the kids get better at the sport showing that participation trophies are beneficial to children, but there are more opportunities to show how they are
Some people may argue that if everyone gets a trophy, everyone will be happy. That might be an understandable concern, however, according to people on blog.sportssignup.com, “By acknowledging everyone with the same award we’re actually celebrating no one and even undermining the efforts of those who really deserve to be recognized.” Similarly, it makes the kids who work really hard feel like there efforts were equal or worse than the efforts of those who do not try hard and do not work hard. On the other hand, if everyone gets a trophy than winners are no longer special. Kids should play sports because they enjoy playing them, not because they want a trophy. It is like one of those arcade games at the movie theater, you keep playing until you win. Another way to say this is, sports were made because they wanted to let people have fun and try to compete, but now sports is turning into the concept of everyone is a winner. Kids and adults feel like we are ruining what sports are supposed to be. In summary, many citizens think that kids should not get trophies for participation because only kids who work hard deserve
But by doing this, it can also send a wrong message to kids who get them for not winning. They could think that these trophies are given for everyone. One quote from the article called “Should Everyone Get a Trophy” by Lauren Tarshis say’s,”But some experts suggest that giving trophies to everyone sends the wrong message. In life, most people are not awarded for simply doing what’s required.” So this tells that giving trophies for every child can tell them something other than what others want them to know. Another quote from the same article states,”An employee doesn’t get a raise just to arriving to work on time. Shouldn’t only the hardest working or the highest performing athletes get the accolades.”This message is what trophies try to tell kids but they can’t because people keep giving these awards to everyone just for
All children today receive participation awards just for trying. However, this has a few substantial drawbacks. For instance, Betty Berdan from The New York Times claims that “When awards are handed out like candy to every child who participates, they diminish in value” (Berdan). This mean the talented kids have less incentive to do their best and don't feel like they have accomplished a large goal. Kids will grow up thinking
L. Hefferman’s article “ In Defense of Participation Trophies: Why they really do teach the right values?” it states “ An award is not really an award if everyone gets it.” (Today.com) In another article by Ashley Merryman called “Losing is Good For You” it says “Awards can be a powerful motivators but nonstop recognition does not inspire children to succeed. Instead, it can cause them to underachieve.” (New York Times Sept. 2013) It is clear, by not giving participation awards it make the children who do get awarded feel more special than if everyone gets one. Obviously, not giving participation awards to everyone gives more of a boost of self-esteem to the people who do get
Imagine this, you had a difficult game against a rival team, but were able to prevail against them. You would think that the best on the team, you, would get the trophy for winning the game for your team and that you would be celebrated. Think again, as everyone is given a trophy, even the one kid who continued to mess everyone else up and almost lost you the game. What kind of message does it send to kids when they are given a trophy for doing nothing? It breeds contempt and a mentality of expectancy. Henceforth, this stands as reason as to why participation trophies should not be an idea.
The 'for participation trophies' side believes that by handing out these trophies to children now that it shouldn't have any negative effect on their future. Showing children that by trying and showing up are all that matters. By doing this it makes everyone a winner and therefore everyone should be rewarded. The 'against participation trophies' side believes that by making everyone a winner, this will create negative long-term effects on children. By parents and coaches over praising these children that it won't teach them any positive life lessons.
The society we live in makes it normal to give out awards that have not been earned. Why should we give awards to people that haven’t earned them? People will say that we do give out unearned awards to encourage children and make sure they don’t feel left out or feel like they aren’t good enough. In reality, studies have shown that awarding children for only participation has a negative impact. Kids know when they have earned
When every child inherits a trophy for just playing or showing up, they don’t learn anything. Along with its many bearings, Merryman claims another, participation trophies don’t just cost a lot of money, underachieve athletes, but also cheat athletes. Ashley Merryman, along with Bradley Morris and Shannon Zentall asserts with recent studies, “ By age 4 or 5, children aren’t fooled by all the trophies. They are surprisingly accurate in identifying who excels and who struggles… those who do well feel cheated when they aren't recognized for their accomplishments” (Merryman 8). This illustrates how without participation trophies children can be recognized for their accomplishments.
Kids need to learn that everything in life should be earned. Effort alone is not a cause for recognition. Trophies that are just handed out for participation do not have long lasting value. If participation trophies were not handed out, the life lessons received instead would have a much longer lasting value, that can last a child his or her whole life. Such lessons include the fact that life isn't fair, and that the world is tough. You need to earn what you want. Kids that are raised with participation trophies are a weaker generation than the kids who had to earn their trophies. When kids that get trophies just for participating grow up, they get rushed when they get to the real world, completely unprepared, causing them a lot more stress at one time.
Ultimately, children need to learn what it takes in order to truly be awarded a trophy. Awards are not to just be handed out to each person who participates, but to the ones who have accomplished a victory. Every person loses at times and it is normal, but by teaching children what losing is, it could help them further in life. Little league is meant for children to learn how to play a sport and to have fun, but that does not mean that trophies need to be handed out for participation. Anything worth having in life comes with hard work and educating children of this at a young age will benefit them. A child does not deserve a participation trophy because it does not allow proper effort to be shown, each sport is played to win, and because a child deserves constructive criticism.
One reason that children with lower playing skills don’t play as much in a game, but still give their best effort that allows more playing time. This shows coaches want to build up all of their players with the skill they need to learn. In addition to kids getting play time, receiving trophies can encourage young athletes to continue playing if they’re not