Participation Trophies Are Not A Good Idea Essay

Participation Trophies Are Not a Good Idea

Let’s face it; regardless of their inclusive moral, no one would bother to watch the

Olympic Games if everybody knew that every single participant was going to be awarded and

celebrated the same way. Then why should we address smaller competitive activities that way?

Ever since human beings have been around, competition has been with them, and although it has

been the cause of most conflicts –at least in its worst form –, it has led us to achieve the stage of

development that we are so quick to praise nowadays. Participation trophies are not a good idea

because they create a false image of the world and discourage healthy competition.

People who promote participation trophies are prone to believe that

In words of sport psychologist Jonathan Fader, “science suggests that

we need to praise our kids on process, not results […]. Kids that are praised for their effort rather

than their ability tend to strive harder, enjoy activities more, and deal with failure in a

more resilient way”. As ironic as it might seem, people who support participation trophies

believe the exact same thing they disagree with: that without being promised any kind of reward,

people wouldn’t have any healthy incentive to compete.

Even though we might conceive any kind of disadvantage in the world as a result of

injustice, it can also be caused by the natural and unavoidable act of competition. Sports, contests

and games were not created for everyone to carry the day. Unfortunately, life as we know it is

very unjust and we’re constantly faced with people suffering from the tragedies caused by the

savage capitalism that rules us, but that wouldn’t be a valid reason for us to eliminate the only

form of healthy competition we have. Although some people might say that knowing that only

one person gets the prize might discourage the least fortunate participants, in reality it’s the