Participation Trophies Are Bad

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67% of people think that only winners should get trophies, but 33% think everyone should get a trophy. A participation trophy is a trophy that kids get for not winning, but instead only showing up. This topic is important because even though it is a small achievement, it affects a child's motivation and determination. This topic is controversial because they affect a child's motivation and also make a child feel included and people are unsure of what should happen with these trophies in topics mainly being youth sports. Although critics feel participation trophies are positive and make a kid feel included, participation trophies are very negative and will affect a child's ability to improve. To begin, one reason people should not give out participation …show more content…

This proves that experts believe that participation trophies are awards for kids that don’t win and make it so that they don’t strive to win and improve their abilities. According to The Sun's Washington correspondent and sports reporter, Jeff Barker stated that kids need to learn to “take the good with the bad.”(Baltimore Sun). This quote shows that kids need to be able to learn lessons and improve instead of being rewarded for making mistakes. Overall, if people want their kids to be the best or improve their skills participation trophies should not be given out. In addition, another reason kids should not receive participation trophies is because it makes it so they get a false sense of how the real world will work and treat them. Participation trophies reward kids for their mistakes and show that you will get rewarded even if you don’t put in the full effort and dedication. In a CNN report by reporter Kelly Wallace, she mentioned the NFL star Kurt Warner’s twitter post that wrote, "They don't let kids pass class 4 just showing …show more content…

This quote supports the idea that all of the said positive effects of participation trophies are false and are doing more harm than good long term for children. All in all, the effects of participation trophies have been proven to be negative and cause kids to not be proficient. Admittedly, people who oppose the idea of not giving out participation trophies argue that they make kids feel included. Some kids do put in their best effort and it makes them feel very accomplished when they receive something like a participation trophy. In fact, The Washington Suns president and sports reporter Jeff Barker stated “Some parents say the trophies are uplifting and foster a sense of belonging.” (Baltimore Sun). This quote is backing up the thought that participation trophies make kids happier and more

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