The topic of “Awards and Trophies Given for Participation” stirs up many different opinions/ positions pertaining to this particular situation. Personally my main position on this topic is that not just anybody should be rewarded with trophies and awards just for participation. I believe that rewarding anyone for participation takes away motivation, drive and a hard work ethic. I think earning a trophy or an award would be much more satisfying after all of the hard work and dedication someone has put into earning it than just being handed a trophy for showing up to that activity/ event. The whole point in awarding someone is to congratulate them and make them feel important for achieving their goal and working hard to get there; it is not …show more content…
According to www.today.com “If everyone is special, then no one is.” this quote completely describes the position I’m coming from. There is no point in handing out awards and trophies if everyone is receiving them. Trophies essentially make a person feel special, like they deserve the award they have been given and that they are striving in what they're doing, but if everyone is awarded for the same thing then that takes away that special feeling. If everyone is made to feel special then that feeling of being important will no longer exist. According to James Harrison (2015) “I think it’s dangerous to create an environment where we hand out trophies—or any kind of acknowledgment—just to reward people for showing up” this quote by Harrison sums up the fact that giving out any …show more content…
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. The friends of mine who grew up getting everything they wanted and who did not have to earn anything are now not in college because they didn't grow up knowing how to strive for a goal and work hard to achieve it so they got stuck in a unmotivated state of mind. Giving out awards and trophies for participation will only result in temporary happiness and negative long term results. Kids must need to know who to handle both winning and loosing in order to get a perspective on life. In order for kids to grow up with motivation and a hard work ethic participation trophies and awards must
About one year ago, I played on a Pburg Liners basketball team. It was the championship game and we really wanted to win, but we did not play well, so as a result, we lost. After the game, our coach gave us all trophies. On the other hand , I was thinking, did we actually deserve them. Apparently, some people think that everyone should get a participation trophy. However, people strongly believe not everyone should get a trophy. People believe this because kids who only show up to some practices and do not try hard should definitely not get the same recognition as a person who shows up to all of the practices and works really hard. It teaches kids that young kids have to
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
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”
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
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
What exactly is the point of receiving a participation trophy and is there really a point? Getting a participation trophy provides a false sense of winning and accomplishment in children that can be ridiculously hard to break. In the article, “Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message,” written by Betty Berden. The article elaborates on why children should not be able to receive a participation trophy and the dangers that come with receiving trophies that children did not win, but some disagree. Parker Abate is one of the opposites, Abate wrote an article named, “In Youth Sports, Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message,” explaining why children should be getting participation trophies rather than not.
For example, if a handful of kids worked hard to win a game while other kids on the team didn't try, they should not be rewarded for putting in zero effort. Giving out participation awards is unfair to the kids who are passionate about their sport and drive to improve. In the article “Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message” the author makes a statement saying that when a kid watches a peer receive a trophy while they do not it can be degrading. However, this can be true, but there are alternatives to this. Instead of handing out a trophy to the participants, they can be
Imagine that you just got done sitting on the bench during your basketball tournement. You sat the whole game and your team just lost. After you shake hands with the other team the anouncer calls both teams onto the center of the court. Your coach hands you and all of your other teammates a trophy that says "Good job! At least you tried." You cannot believe that you just got a trophy for sitting on the bench the whole game, not doing anything. All you had to do was show up and you get a trophy weather you win or lose. Although some people argue that participation trophies are good for your self-esteem, I believe that they are useless and a waste of money.
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.
In the situation before, every child received a trophy, even if they did not try their hardest. So, why try if you will be rewarded anyways? Sarah Maizes, a writer for Today, said that her children have shelves full of trophies for various sports, even though they’ve never showed any real progress in the sports. (Website #1) There is no motivation to try and get better when you are guaranteed a
While in reality, handing out participation trophies will make kids feel the guilt of not trying hard enough and that they really didn't deserve the trophy they received. Which would make kids feel unworthy of the prize and it will be a reminder of the lack of effort they put into sports as a
Why participation awards are unneeded. Awards to all were made to motivate and encourage athletes to not give up, and to keep playing. But awards to all has an effect of confused and concerned parents/ athletes, that have now resulted in a debate on whether or not participation awards are necessary or not. Trophies should only be awarded to
There are people who contribute the most work and don’t receive any recognition for great actions. Secondly, Sports are played for fun, but a trophy can make sports more interesting when reaching achievement. Let’s not forget, trophies shouldn’t be given to those who just simply show up and not contribute. For example, if someone received a raise for just showing