Almost all kids have their walls lined with participation trophies they won for sports. Support for participation trophies has been increasing within the younger generation with the majority of people ages 18-24 supporting the idea that every kid should receive a participation trophy (Source 2). There are some benefits of giving out participation trophies to kids, including how they give kids an item to remember an experience by, however, the drawbacks of participation trophies far outweigh the benefits they provide. Participation trophies should not be handed out to kids as they don't teach kids lessons, they devalue hard work, and they promote bad attitudes in kids which overall harm them later in life. First, participation trophies don't teach …show more content…
This is supported by Lisa Heffernan, who argues that participation trophies "remind kids that we value their effort" and help teach kids that "showing up for practice, learning the rules and rituals of the game and working hard" is really what's most important to take away from sports (Source 3). This is a great lesson to teach kids through sports, however, there are other ways we can teach this lesson. We can praise them for their schoolwork through academic awards, praise their character through complimenting their actions, or even hand out awards to celebrate "improvement or team spirit" (Source 1). Either way, trophies or awards should be handed out based on accomplishment and not simply on showing up. This idea is supported by Stanford researcher, Carol Dweck, who claims too much praise, including participation trophies, can lead to developing kids that are less resilient to challenges later in life (Source 4). This is severely harmful to the future generation because we need to cultivate children that are resilient and motivated, which these participation trophies
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
Over the years, many sports leagues have given out participation trophies to young athletes. Today, a lot of leagues are no longer giving out trophies to everyone. Leagues should not give out participation trophies because it teaches kids that you don’t need to earn anything, ruins getting an award by not making it a special thing, and teaches young athletes that you will always win.
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
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.
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
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.
Children are very spoiled so they will think everything will come easy but in life everything is hard. Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message by Betty Berden. The author says how the children should not just receive participation reward and everyone should have to work hard, and the people who work hard should get trophies, after that that’s when the participation trophies get passed out. Also, In Youth Sports, Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message by Parker Abate, it’s letting us know why children should participate because they have learned a lot and might not ever play again so they should have memories.
Some people may argue that kids should receive participation trophies, however some think they should not. Why should kids keep getting participation trophies if they did not win anything? In general sports there is only one winner they don't get participation trophies, so why should kids. Even though kids are young and have low self-esteem, not receiving a participation trophy can drive them to achieve one that is earned. Although some might think that kids should receive participation awards, what about?
Claim: As a kid, did you ever receive a participation trophy? Do you still have that trophy, probably not? Instead of giving kids meaningless awards when they lose, we should teach them how to show good sportsmanship. When we give children participation awards, it gives them the false implication that in life, everybody wins. At some point, we must show them that sometimes, even if you want something, you might not get 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.
Parker Abate, Athlete at Misericordia University writes that “ young athletes should be honored in lesser ways and all deserve to feel some form of accomplishment.” Abate believes that rewarding younger athletes with participation trophies can show them that sports are not all about winning, and that its O.K to lose. These trophies may also attempt to keep the child in a sport as it can encourage them to work harder and stay active in extracurricular activities. Abate believes that “It will be very hard to go far in the ““real world”” without understanding teamwork. Participation awards begin to instill the idea in a child’s mind that working with a unit can lead to success.”
Have you ever got a participation trophy for doing nothing? Parents want to get their kids involved in extracurricular activities even if the kids do not want to. It is embarrassing to be a bench warmer but parents these days do not understand that. In their generation no one made fun of each other for not starting or playing in a game. Giving a kid a participation trophy is like giving someone a pat on the back for doing something wrong. Kids need high self-esteem, confidence in themselves, and maybe sometimes a pat on the back.
Not every child should be given a trophy for just participating because it does not do justice to the ones who earned it, or prepare them for future life, giving the children a false sense of success does not actually make them successful. If children are given trophies for only participating, it makes them expect gratification for maybe not putting forward their best. Giving everybody a trophy also takes gratification and praise away from the children who worked harder and earned it, making them feel as if they should have done better than their peers in order to earn higher praise, they don't get the full reward of the trophy, they get only a material object that has no praise or gratification attached to it. By receiving participation trophies, children gain the mindset that as long as they participate, they will be rewarded, completely contradictory to what they will encounter later on in life. By giving them a reward for participating without really putting forth effort, we are giving the children a view that they should be rewarded as long as they participated (Source 4).