Participation Trophies; The Bold Truth
When I was six years old, I played on an extremely bad soccer team. That year we won one single game. Nobody knew how to shoot, dribble, or pass. Yet somehow my team kept winning trophies. They weren’t anything special; just a soccer ball with the words, “What Matters is You Had Fun!” It didn’t matter if we won or lost because we always got these trophies, trophies for participating. Many people believe that participation trophies are a good thing for children, but all they do is make children think that they always win. Participation trophies are a negative thing for kids. There are multiple reasons for why participation trophies are a negative thing for children and today, and I will tell you about how they are a negative thing for them. My first argument is that they don’t mean anything to kids. According to Betty Berdan, she has so many participation trophies from when she was a kid that she doesn’t know what to do with them. The trophies sit in the corner, just collecting dust. Some people say that if children receive these trophies it will make them develop fearlessness because they have confidence (website 3). In fact, children won’t develop this trait but could develop narcissistic traits.
My second argument is that it sends the
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I can partially see why they would say this, as the trophies make the kids feel a little better after their loss. But what I don’t get is how they think that kids actually care about these meaningless pieces of plastic. Eventually, the trophies will pile up, collect dust, and they won’t mean anything because of how many there are (website 1). It also will make children think that they always win and that they will get rewarded for everything they do, even if they fail (website 1). Children need to know that they can make mistakes and that in the real world you don’t get everything you want (website
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
Every kid on the football field has a trophy. Even the kids who are on the losing team. Kids’ and parents’ faces are bright with smiles, and laughter echoes throughout the field. Kids are showing off their miny trophies, each with a bronze football on them. No one is paying attention to the two feet tall, gold, first place trophy that is in the winning team’s coach’s hand. Everybody is focused on the miniature trophies. Why are these trophies so special? These are participation trophies. Every kid gets one just for participatcuing in a game. Kids started getting participation trophies in the 20th Century. They got the trophies to feel more confident about themselves. Trophies should not be given to every kid because of narcissism increase,
Handing out participation trophies does not teach kids about the real world. O’Sullivan says, “We reward them for having a parent capable of registering them for a sport.” Participation trophies are for registering and showing up the day they hand out trophies, they are not for hard
According to researcher and author of “Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing,” Ashley Merryman says “having studied recent increases in narcissism and entitlement among college students, (she) warns that when living rooms are filled with participation trophies, it’s part of a larger cultural message: to succeed, you just have to show up.” She also says “if children know they will automatically get an award, what is the impetus for improvement? Why bother learning problem-solving skills, when there are never obstacles to begin with?” She goes on to say handing out trophies undermines kids’ success: “The benefit of competition isn’t actually winning”. Another author says “when you’re constantly giving a kid a trophy for everything they’re doing, you’re saying, ‘I don’t care about improvement. I don’t care that you’re learning from your mistakes. All we expect is that you’re always a winner’” (Ross). These particiation trophies have many negative effects that can make these children less succesful in competitive enviornments: such as college or in the work force. It will also make them less prepared for an independent life after leaving
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
Trophies were once infrequent in society. You would have to go to your local jewelry store and spend top dollar on a shiny piece of sterling silver or gold. Thus, you didn’t see a whole lot of children running around with new trophies every week. However, with the arrival of the 1960s, many factories that had been once used to produce military goods during WWII would now be available for mass-production consumer goods. Trophies would now be marketed and sold to coaches and athletic departments, or available at your hometown sporting goods store (Merryman). In modern day society, sports participation trophies are almost guaranteed, ensuring every child is a “winner” at the end of the day. These participation trophies are extremely harmful to our youth and should only be given out when deemed necessary.
Merryman, an author of two books pertaining to her objective somewhat promoting an ethos appeal, is against the use of participation trophies. Her objective is to rid the role these objects have in a child’s life in regards to how they might view losing. The audience she reaches out toward is any adult who is affiliated with children. To
(Fader 1) When a child is told that trying their best is enough, it makes it much harder for them to deal with losing a game. They will think that because they tried their best they should have won. Instead of noticing plays that their team did wrong, the child will mostly become angry at the other team. Thinking they “should’ve won” because they tried their hardest. This can make the future of a kid a lot more difficult. This is because if they don’t get into the college they want or they don’t obtain a job they want, they may throw a fit. If they can’t keep their anger in check over losing, it can be detrimental to relationships with other people and their own image. This is not the only other reason why trophies should not be given out to children
Statsky also makes another faulty assumption, which is that competition is an adult imposition on the world of children’s play. She says in her article, “The primary goal of a professional athlete – winning – is not appropriate for children” (629). Children compete to win in the same way that adults do, and they do so on their own without any adult pressure. Common playground gam...
First, it teaches young athletes you need to earn rewards. In the article “Should Young Athletes get Participation Trophies” by A. Pawlowski it states, “If everyone gets a trophy it would not teach kids to earn or strive for something.” ( Today.com Nov. 2013) In another part of this article it
Opponents argue that participation trophies are fair solution in youth sports. However, if both teams received a trophy it would not be fair to the winning team. The team that wins is the team that put forth the proper effort in preparing for the game. Children need to learn that they cannot win everything in life, it is impossible to always win. But at the same time, children also need to learn that it is okay to lose at times. Losing is a great too...
More specifically, Abate argues that trophies will help boost the kids self-esteem. he writes, “ Self-esteem is a big part of one’s childhood. Watching a peer receive a trophy and not receiving one yourself can be degrading.” In this passage, Abate is suggesting that kids deserve something to show that their effort was worthwhile. Moreover, he argues that kids need something to show that their effort was needed to help the team whether they won or not. He writes, “Any kind of honor can make a young kid feel as if he or she meant something to the team, and that could boost the child’s self-confidence -- children today need as much of that as they can get in our society.” In this passage, Abate is suggesting that kids need trophies to boost self-esteem. In conclusion, Abate’s belief is that all children deserve to be rewarded for their work. In my view, Abate is wrong because kids don't deserve a reward for everything they have done. More specifically, I believe that giving children trophies for just playing a sport will make kids feel that they are entitled to things. For example, if a kid has always grown up receiving trophies for their participation they may believe that they deserve a spot on a competitive sports team because they have always been rewarded the same as the other
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
When kids win a game or many games they can get to confident and become mean and cocky winners, but if kids experience a loss, they can get an understanding for the other team or player. In the article, why we need to let kids fail the author states that kids have a habit of being more fearful to failure and less willing to try new things because they don 't know how they will handle it (Why We Need to Let Children Fail). According to Ashley Merryman, When kids make mistakes in a game, parents and coaches should not twist those losses into decorated wins. Instead, they should be helping the kids overcome those losses, to help them see that getting better over time is more imperative than a win or loss, and to help them kindly congratulate the child or team that thrived when they failed (Merryman). As Dyan Williams stated in her article, “Thomas Edison failed over 6,000 times before perfecting the first electrical lightbulb. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team and missed over 9,000 shots in his career. Oprah Winphrey was fired from an early anchor spot and deemed “unfit for TV."” (Dyan Williams). A failure that results from well-made and goodhearted experimentation can be a
Competition is often thought of as the way by which one earns a prize. However, in truth, it is solely the act of striving to be better than your opponent. The trophy is simply the representation of the outcome. While winning the trophy is fun, society is unfortunately in an age where standard participation and mediocrity are the only criteria for which one receives recognition, and the true purpose and benefit of competition has been lost. Although, it can be argued that going for the gold, so to speak, can negatively impact one’s psyche, competition does indeed offer benefits far beyond the trophy. Much like life, competition provides highs, lows, gains, losses, adversity, and a continued opportunity for growth and success. With all