Winning Isn’t Everything
An important lesson that kids need to learn at a young age is that if they try their best, their actions will have value. The aspects of teamwork, commitment, and striving are crucial to succeeding in anything. Receiving participation trophies is beneficial to the growth of children because they boost kids’ confidence drastically, thus motivating them to do their utmost, inducing them to choose participating in physical activities rather than burning daylight.
Receiving a trophy just for showing up and trying can boost the confidence of young children. Self-esteem is a big part of and can greatly affect one’s childhood. According to social scientists, “ ’Self-esteem among young people in America has reportedly been
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If a child doesn’t have the motivation to do things, they won’t want to try. According to the executive director of The Sports and Society Program at the Aspen Institute and author of “Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children.”, “Participation trophies remind young kids that they are part of something, and may help build enthusiasm to return for another season” (Farrey 3)(Ross 6). Kids are known to have a lot of enthusiasm and energy, but do they display that because they are being showered with constant disappointment, or success and recognition? These trophies show the children that they accomplished something, and they will feel like they are being recognized for their efforts, and won’t be discouraged to try it again. Kenneth Barish, the Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology at Weill Medical College, Cornell University and author of Pride and Joy: A Guide to Understanding Your Child's Emotions and Solving Family Problems, says, “ ‘We want kids to participate in sports, to learn to improve their skills, to help others, to work hard and make a contribution to the team’ ” (Barish 3)(Ross 6). Starting to play sports at a young age gives a lot of time for the child to improve their mental and social skills, and these participation trophies motivate kids to want to get better. Additionally, motivation is an …show more content…
Some researchers say that participation trophies give them a false sense of authority. “ ‘And I rarely encounter a kid who didn't work hard because they think they are getting a trophy anyway. When I do encounter this attitude, it is a symptom of a deeper problem that kid is having with putting forth effort’ ” (Barish 1)(Ross 6). The kids who are actually trying and want to get better don’t feel the need to receive something as recognition that they did it. The kids who get whatever they ask for and have it easy are the ones that feel like they deserve something even if they didn’t put in any effort whatsoever. Pittsburg Steeler James Harrison believes that everything in life needs to be earned and merely trying your best may not always be enough. He says, “These shiny bits of plastic have been blamed for creating an entitled generation who learned to expect adulation for the unexceptional on the playing field and later in life” (Heffernan 3)(Ross 6). Professional athletes have gone through the difficult trials of winning, losing, and hard work. Therefore, they understand what the real world is like, and how to best prepare their children for the hard work that is needed to succeed. What they don’t think about, though, is the fact that children don’t need to
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
To illustrate, Ashley Merryman, the author of the article “Losing is Good for You” states, “ However, when it comes to rewards, people argue that kids must be treated identically: everyone must always win. That is misguided. And there are negative outcomes. Not for just specific children, but for society as a whole.” This explains that when kids get trophies, they think that they are always going to win, no matter how poorly they did their job. This can cause major problems in the society, such as companies not improving. In addition, Ashley Merryman also states, “ Having studied recent increases in narcissism [having an excessive interest in oneself; an over inflated ego often due to parents’ overvaluation] and entitlement among college students, she [Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me] 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.” This shows that even young kids are starting to be egoistic, and that can stick with them their entire life. When kids will go into the real world, it would be too late to realize that winning is not important. As a result, narcissism increases in the kids and makes them
Some argue that participation trophies are going to be the downfall of society and human life in general. That is not the case but, there are many downsides of these awards, in this essay a few of these will be brought to attention. Participation trophies do not teach children valuable lessons.
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
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
Now every time he gets a trophy they have less and less value. Thus, getting a reward for a simple task, has no point. Another reason kids shouldn’t get participation trophies is their confidence. Initially, “Research has found that the best way to improve kids’ self image is to help them develop their abilities.”
Todays generation of kids have been crafted to expect praise for everyday tasks and have become entitled all because of something many people thought was harmless, participation trophies. If you ask anyone, they have probably recieved a participation trophy at least once in their life and some will think it was a good thing, but others may beg to differ. In my opinion participation trophies are a bad tool in life because it goes along and is a big part of the we are all winners concept. Trophies should be a symbol of accomplishing something not a symbol of participation in an activity and a few people have written about their opinion about this situation varying from critical writers, to college athletes from around the country here are
Participation awards and trophies are detrimental to a child's drive and work ethic. In the past decade a push for the belief that “everybody is a winner” . While the thought behind this is to make sure nobody gets their feelings hurt and to not lower someone's self esteem, it is just not practical in the way life works. Not everybody is a winner, just because you gave your best does not mean that you get a trophy. Participation awards cause children to lose their drive to work hard and be the best at what they do because it puts the false belief that everybody is a winner in their head, and it makes them soft and not know how to handle defeat.
A popular controversial subject is whether or not children should receive awards for participation; recognition for participation makes children lazy. Po Branson says, “Nonstop recognition does not inspire children to succeed. Instead, it can cause them to underachieve.” If a child knows that he is capable of receiving an award in football, then he will strive to reach his full potential in order to get it. An award like a participation award will cause a child to work less, for he knows that he will receive an award regardless. Trophies should be awarded to individuals who stand out in competition. When everyone participates and receives an award for it, then the award is not really an award. The American Youth Soccer Organization spends 12% of its annual budget on trophies, one for each of its athletes and about one third of these 3500 athletes receive two awards. This shows that even the biggest companies in sports are guilty of giving out pointless awards for kids
You have to compete with everyone around you all the time. All the way from school to your job it's a competition. Participation trophies don't teach kids about competing. If everyone gets a trophy then it teaches that there isn't really any motivation to be better than the other guy because y'all get the same reward. This hindsight carries with them through life where not everyone will get something and they'll be
Participation trophies given to children has been a controversial topic amongst all parents. Some say that one should be rewarded based off of effort, other than talent. Others say that one should not be rewarded for failure. Giving participation trophies to children do nothing other than set their life up with complacency. Children who receive participation trophies growing up respond negatively to failure, underachieve when they have the chance, and collapse at the first sign of difficulty.
Personally I have never just been given a trophy or an award for participating I have always earned by award and I tried and failed until I succeeded in doing so. Not being given participation awards has taught me to you have to work for what you want in life whether this applies to sports, work, school or any personal goes. I have failed many times and succeeding gives me the greatest satisfaction that over powers any failure. I also am more driven when I fail, I do not give up until my gaol is achieved. If all kids are rewarded for everything they participate in then they will never grasp the feeling of actually earning a goal they worked for and that will not prepare them for life.
1 Tyler Stevens Kathy Sumner English IV 6 November 2014 Trophies In today’s world, kids are awarded trophies and ribbons for simply participating in the event. This can affect the kids in a positive and a negative way. The effects of trophies and achievements on kids are the sense of accomplishment, Happiness in the kids, and also a winning attitude.
Many children across the country receive rewards, and prizes for playing a sport. Instead of just recognizing the best or top performers, “...many sports programs have started awarding trophies to all athletes, regardless of their performance.” Some argue that the idea of giving everyone a trophy for participation sends the wrong message, and does not reward hard work. Some say that rewarding a trophy to everyone encourages kids to continue playing a sport even if they are not the best (Should Everyone Get a Trophy). Everyone should not receive a trophy just solely on participation.