Everyone loves getting a trophy! However, getting a participation trophy is quite controversial; some say obtaining them is motivational while others say it is damaging. Although they do not hold much value, giving kids participation trophies helps boost self-esteem, feel accomplished, and helps them to remember they were once part of a team, which can build better beliefs. Self-esteem is very important in a child's life; it can either make them or break them. In Youth Sports, Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message by Parker Abate argues that “Watching a peer receive a trophy and not receiving one yourself can be degrading.” Which is true, when a child watches another get a trophy while they did not, it can make them feel like they are not good enough. Abate also states that “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." While the child did not get a first or second place trophy, being acknowledged by getting a participation trophy is just as fulfilling to a kid. Feeling accomplished is important to self-esteem. Abate also argues that “These kids dedicate time, effort and …show more content…
Firstly, “Participation awards begin to instill the idea in a child’s mind that working with a unit can lead to success” Even if they did not win, they became a team and had fun; that still counts as a success. It is also stated that “So while these children may not win the championship, working with a group of peers with the goal of succeeding teaches them that in life, teamwork will be extremely important along with giving it your all.” Winning trophies with a team teaches kids that teamwork is important and learning that at a young age will cause them to continue to believe that later in
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
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.
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.
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.
Every person wants a trophy, but sometimes can’t get one. Then people added to the leagues a participation trophy everyone gets. People like Jeff Barker, Jim Madrid, Reason Magazine, and Fox & Friends are part of the discussion on participation trophies. Around 2015 participation trophies became a hot topic if kids should receive participation trophies. O’Sullivan is a former student of the University of California, Berkeley.
Students participating in different activities should get a trophy as it boosts their confidence, continues their interest in participating, and provides a sense of accomplishment that motivates them to do even better next time. The students getting trophies act as a beneficiary to students because it gives them the opportunity to experience what it is like to be a trophy holder, which motivates students to do even better. For instance, in NPR ED by Corey Turner, Kenneth Barish, a psychology professor at Weill Cornell Medical College supports his views by saying, “He thinks kids should get trophies for participation” because “he sees no harm in adults encouraging participation with a trophy and that he's found no evidence the practice leads to entitlement among kids.” He adds to his argument by mentioning that these participation trophies “may be all they get" serving as their primary source of motivation to engage in various activities.
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.
This is my second reason why kids should get participation trophies for extracurricular activities because not everything is about winning and losing. Support 3: The final reason why kids should get a trophy for participation is because it teaches children to be kind to others. In sports, if your only goal is to win, that could affect your team and your performance. But, if everyone is getting a trophy, no matter what, it helps create a better environment because all kids are working towards the same goal and it helps them enjoy the sport more. In the article "In defense of participation trophies: Why they really do teach the right values" it states, "From ages 0 to 12, the goal is to help kids to fall in love with sports, to want to come back the next year, to want to go into the backyard and improve their technique," This quote explains how we need to teach kids at a young age to enjoy their sport and be kind to all of their team mates to make them want to go back the next day and try something new with all of their team mates supporting them.