Imagine a child on a sports team. The kid scored the most goals, yet their team got praised and awarded instead of the kid’s effort being acknowledged on their own. Obviously, the child is upset because they feel like they did most of the work. This feeling of unfairness is present in modern times through the handing out of participation awards to children. In the passages “Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message” by Betty Berden and “In Youth Sports, Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message” by Parker Abate, both authors argue whether children should be given participation trophies or not. While Abate advocates for such awards, Berden believes that these trophies send an unhealthy message to children. Children should not receive participation awards …show more content…
In Berden’s argument, she acknowledged that giving away trophies to every child diminishes the value the trophies once had. Accounting for her own experience, Berden talks about her abundance of trophies, ribbons, and medals, stating that, “they do not mean much to me because I know that identical awards sit in other children’s rooms all around town and probably in millions of other homes...” Her emphasis on the number of trophies across the country illustrates how insignificant the trophies are to her. When the awards are given to everyone who participates, winning is less special for children. Unfortunately, if everyone is granted a trophy, children become apathetic towards the trophies and winning. If every player receives a trophy, what is there to strive for? Why try at all if you are going to get an award regardless of individual effort? This action will become detrimental to them when they become adults. The children who are given participation awards will become less competitive; therefore, they will be unprepared in more competitive atmospheres. These adults will
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,
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.
Explanation Participation trophies are awards handed out for simply participating in an athletic event or program. These trophies are very common in youth athletics across the country and their effects on children have been debated for years. In many areas around the country, teams hand out thousands of trophies to children, and many of the children will receive more than one particiation trophy (Merryman). Arguments have been formed from both sides of these trophies and researchers have found beneficial and harmful effects on young athletes when given participation trophies.
“Today on Channel 4 News a child has just committed suicide for not getting a trophy in his favorite sport, soccer. The child had just played a soccer game the day before trying his hardest to win and be the best like everybody else. When his team got beat 8-0 he was already down in the dumps, but then the soccer tournament did not give trophies to the 6 year olds who lost making them feel like total losers. This child was so sad that he was taking a bath and decided to breathe water for 3 minutes rendering him dead,” a statement made by a local newscaster. The debate for whether participation trophies are needed has gone on for many years among parents, and sports/hobby officials. Opposers of the participation trophies believe that they are not needed among children and should be eliminated completely. On the contrary proponents of the participation trophies believe that they help children in many ways and should be kept.
More specifically, Abate argues that trophies will help boost the kids self-esteem. he writes, “ Self-esteem is a big part of one’s childhood. Watching a peer receive a trophy and not receiving one yourself can be degrading.” In this passage, Abate is suggesting that kids deserve something to show that their effort was worthwhile. Moreover, he argues that kids need something to show that their effort was needed to help the team whether they won or not. He writes, “Any kind of honor can make a young kid feel as if he or she meant something to the team, and that could boost the child’s self-confidence -- children today need as much of that as they can get in our society.” In this passage, Abate is suggesting that kids need trophies to boost self-esteem. In conclusion, Abate’s belief is that all children deserve to be rewarded for their work. In my view, Abate is wrong because kids don't deserve a reward for everything they have done. More specifically, I believe that giving children trophies for just playing a sport will make kids feel that they are entitled to things. For example, if a kid has always grown up receiving trophies for their participation they may believe that they deserve a spot on a competitive sports team because they have always been rewarded the same as the other
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.
Determining whether to award participation trophies or not is a controversial issue in America today. Surprisingly, most people are in favor of not awarding participation trophies to children because of the negative outcomes. A solution that is suggested to solving the problem is to ensure both the winning and losing team a trophy. Conversely, when both teams receive a trophy this defeats the purpose of even playing the game. Children are smart enough to know if they won or lost a game, and by letting each team receive a trophy it creates confusion for children. If a child is rewarded with a plaque after a loss, this could cause confusion for a child because he or she might not understand the purpose of the plaque. Several children understand that while competing there is only one true winner, and by giving both teams awards this creates a false sense of how sports actually maneuver. As children grow old enough to play for their school’s team, they will quickly learn that only teams who win are awarded trophies. Teaching children how a sport operates at a young age could help children comprehend sports better and sooner. Children should not be given participation trophies because the winning effort should be awarded, each sport is a competition, and children deserve proper feedback.
Trophies were once infrequent in society. You would have to go to your local jewelry store and spend top dollar on a shiny piece of sterling silver or gold. Thus, you didn’t see a whole lot of children running around with new trophies every week. However, with the arrival of the 1960s, many factories that had been once used to produce military goods during WWII would now be available for mass-production consumer goods. Trophies would now be marketed and sold to coaches and athletic departments, or available at your hometown sporting goods store (Merryman). In modern day society, sports participation trophies are almost guaranteed, ensuring every child is a “winner” at the end of the day. These participation trophies are extremely harmful to our youth and should only be given out when deemed necessary.
Imagine finishing in second place or not even making it into the quarterfinals, and then someone is handing out trophies to everyone anyway. This would give these people the wrong idea that they don’t need to win, since they’ll get rewarded either way. In the article, “Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message” by Betty Berden, she lists the cons of distributing participation trophies to younger people such as reducing competition, making winning less important, and giving off the misunderstanding that everyone is a winner. These are important factors to consider when deciding if it should be practiced. But according to some people, the only definitive positive is that handing out these awards grants a boost in self-esteem for younger
Getting participation trophies has become a very controversial topic in sports. Many parents think that their kids should be getting participation trophies, while it could be nice for kids to get them, there are many reasons why we should reconsider giving participation trophies. We shouldn't be giving out trophies to kids who don't show up for games or help the team out. Trophies are meant to be given to the kids who have put exceptional effort into their sport and who have made many achievements. on the other hand, giving trophies to kids who haven't done their best and haven't put in all their effort is taking away the value of why we give trophies.
In the passages, “Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message,” and “Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message,” they both discuss the effects on commending children. One passage discusses the harms of over-praising, which could lead to someone making a negligible effort for equal acknowledgment. While the other passage talks about the importance of rewarding to induce a child’s self-confidence. First, the author talks about the importance of building a child’s self-esteem. It is fundamental to instill self-esteem in your youth so they can feel important and part of something.
It could be the only form of athletic recognition they ever receive.” Just because kids put in plenty of work drives them to feel like they deserve a participation trophy. This can have unfavorable effects when older because consequently it
In recent years, awarding participation trophies to children has become increasingly common in youth sports and other activities. While the intention behind these trophies is to often boost the children’s self-esteem and encourage participation, there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that such trophies may have unintended negative consequences. This essay argues that children should not receive participation trophies as they can foster a sense of entitlement, undermine the value of genuine achievement, and hinder the development of important life skills. One of the main arguments against participation trophies is that they can foster a sense of entitlement in children. By receiving a trophy or reward simply for showing up or participating, children may come to expect recognition without putting in the effort or achieving any real success.
Aidan Diehl Mrs. Brekke Gr. 11 LA 05 April 2024 Participation Trophies do More Harm than Good Picture a world where everything gets handed to children. Well, that is what participation trophies are turning our world into these days. Participation trophies cause more harm than good. Participation trophies praise children too much, create too high self-esteem, and children will give up when faced with difficulties. Also, receiving these trophies can take away the lesson of losing.