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The negatives of a participation trophy
The negatives of a participation trophy
The negatives of a participation trophy
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Why do we get participation trophies. If you are in a sport and your team loses all of its games, but you still get a trophy than deep down you will not be proud of that trophy, it will just bring back bad memories. If you do not feel like you earned the trophy than you will not get any sense of success and accomplishment when you look at it because you would know that you did not deserve it. When someone is given a prize for failing they will not be ready for they real world because they will be used to being a winner even though they really were a loser. In the real world everyone is trying to be top dog, they do not care if you fail as long as they succeed. Everyone has to be prepared to lose and to bounce back from it, because they will
In the moment neither of these feelings are amazing but in “Competition Makes a Comeback”, Caitlin Snaring shares that this was actually results in an outcome that is well worth it: “‘Losing made me want to win even more… got me fired up’ to win the 2007 contest.” (Kronholz 18). Because Caitlin felt upset after being eliminated at a 2006 geography bee, she realized that she didn’t want to feel like this again, and the only way for that to happen is to push even harder to reach goals. Without failure against others people assume they are the best or they are just a natural winner so they don’t need to try. This mindset automatically sets society up for failure, because with everyone just sitting back waiting for a trophy to be handed to them for anything and everything nothing would get done, and there is no way for everyone in a society to all win one way. Just imagine a computer engineer thinking they can release a computer that is only a small percent finished just because people loved their last
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
The National Junior Honor Society is a very respected and prestigious organization that I would be glad to be a part of. The students involved exemplify scholarship, leadership, service, character, and knowledge. All of which are traits that are incredibly important in my own life. I feel that each student with the privilege to commit to this foundation should devote some time and effort to those qualities.
Ever since elementary school, there have been awards for success that are given out. Those specific awards could be reading a book, writing a paper that won at an event, winning a championship in sports, etc. Society, ever since we have been little kids, have been teaching the newer generations to strive to succeed. For, if they succeed there will be an award, just like in elementary school. For example, in the third grade, I placed first at my state swimming meet. When I got back to school my teacher applauded me on my accomplishment, gave me candy, and the principal at my school gave me a certificate of excellence. Even without knowing it, out of the kindness of their hearts, my supervisors were teaching me to be successful and try the hardest at everything that I do. Nowadays, the popular awards that honor success involve, the Purple Heart, the Medal of Honor, the Nobel Peace Prize, Rookie of the Year, Hall of Fame Nominee, Grammy’s, and many more. When people of a significant role, such as Leonardo DiCaprio winning his first Oscar, are honored with their particular success, it inspires others to achieve their own goals. People may say to themselves, “Well if that person can do it, then I can do it as well.” With this thought process this helps the public strive for success. As well as honor those who have achieved
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
Entering high school with little knowledge of seemed impossible to reach the level of National Honor Society but I set my mind the right way, move from regular classes to Advance Placement classes had lots of sleepless nights but I came out successful in the end, to reach my dreams of becoming a member of the National Honor Society and make them a reality. By reaching the National Honor Society I can show my family how strong I am, that I will be someone successful in the future. The best part of achieving the requirements for the National Honor Society was to accomplish the amount of community service hours. I attended the Relay For Life event, an American Cancer Society, on the behalf of the Amnesty International Laredo Branch. I experienced
and effort into something and did not receive anything out of it: no trophy, no ticket to
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
The chances of doing something that earns you of the Medal of Honor are 11,000 to one. (www.fun) The Medal of Honor is given to those who risk their life and do more than asked while an active soldier. (www.us) Imagine being worthy of one of these medals because of a heroic action you performed. After having done more than required or saving a life at the risk of you own, you would be worthy of the highest military award there is. Imagine being denied the right to wear the Medal of Honor because of who you were. To never get the award you had earned do to your beliefs or skin color.
The first reason that failure can lead to success is it makes you want it more. This may even cause you to practice more to try and reach your goal. For example, the article it states that “Once upon a time there was a boy in Williamston, North Carolina, who dearly loved basketball. Sure he had talent but
Trophies for Everyone Participation is something which takes place in everyday life. I participate in school activities, which are mostly mandatory, and other activities. Other activities, such as going to school itself, involving myself in gym, and sometimes in debate. I also participate in things at home, but before we get to what that is, let’s look at a quote about competition. “The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give” (Cosell).
More is learned from failure than from success. Kids need to experience failure because, it helps them work harder for what they want to achieve life, failure helps them become stronger in real life problems, failure also can teach kids to be thoughtful winners and respectable losers and to never take winning for granted. Winning and losing in sports is very important as well, If you don’t have a winner and a loser in a game the loser will never know what they are doing wrong and how to fix it.