Visualize a soccer team where everyone works hard in drills and practices every day. Their team is exemplary in skill and hard work and plays against an opposing team where most of the kids never practice outside of standard routine. Of course, the opposing team loses the game, and the other team receives medals and a gold trophy. However, the losers are each rewarded with smaller trophies, diminishing the accomplishment of the other team. The value of a reward is an unforgettable memory. Rewards provide children and adults with the feeling of accomplishment and acknowledgement for their hard work. However, not everyone deserves something for their participation. Although this is just one example, there are real-life instances just like this happening right now. Moreover, the saying that “everyone is a winner” detrimentally affects the people who work hard to win what they merit. For example, Betty Berden composed a …show more content…
Considering this, many people work hard to achieve their goals, but are overshadowed by others with more talent or skills. It happens often in sports, competitions, work, and even school. For example, Parker Abate goes on to explain that “These young athletes should be honored in lesser ways, and all deserve to feel some form of accomplishment.” Following up with the statement that “These kids dedicate time, effort and enthusiasm, and they deserve to have something tangible to make them feel that their participation was worthwhile.” Though Abate makes impressive claims as to why everyone deserves to “win,” it does not override the fact that it can ruin the self-esteem of the ones who work hard and put in the effort to be rewarded. Overall, children and adults should not be rewarded simply because they take part in the
College athletes are undoubtedly some of the hardest working people in the world. Not only are they living the life of an average student, they also have a strenuous schedule with their specific sport. One of the most discussed topics in the world of college athletics is whether or not student-athletes should be paid money for playing sports. The people who disagree with the idea have some good arguments to make. Primarily that the athletes get to go to school for free for playing sports. Another argument is that if student-athletes were to get paid then it would ruin the amateurism of college sports. People who are against paying the athletes do not want to see the young people become focused on money. “Paying student-athletes would dramatically shift their focus away from where it should be - gaining knowledge and skills for life after college” (Lewis and Williams). This is very understandable because one of the biggest reasons college sports are so popular is because the athletes play for school pride and for bragging rights. They play because they enjoy the game, not because it is their job. Most people that disagree with the idea of paying the athletes fail to realize what really goes on behind the scenes. At most Universities around the country the bulk of the income the school receives is brought in through the athletic programs. In fact the football and basketball teams usually bring in enough money to completely pay for the rest of the athletic programs all together. To get a better understanding of how much has changed in the world of college sports a little history must be learned.
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
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.
According to a community soccer organization in Southern California, “the American Youth Soccer Organization hands out roughly 3,500 awards each season — each player gets one, while around a third get two” (Merryman). This community also spends up to twelve percent of the athletic budget a year on these types of trophies. The way this community values awards to children is not beneficial and does not teach them important life lessons. Giving every child a trophy in a community may cause them to underachieve; on the other hand it can also be a motivator to keep some kids active in sports. In sports as well as life there are winners and losers and children have to start understanding that little by little.
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
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.
Thirteen-year-old Jordan Walker has been receiving participation trophies since she was five. When she was six she was on a basketball team. All she did was run up and down the court; she didn’t even touch the ball. She got participation trophies and loss motivation. Now she doesn’t play sports. Giving every kid a trophy was a movement that started in California in the eighties to build children’s self-esteem. This has since backfired causing kids to become arrogant and narcissistic. Trophies should only be given to the people who worked the hardest and played the best to give the trophy meaning, to make kids realize they can’t win every time, and to give the kids something worth working hard for.
For example, if a handful of kids worked hard to win a game while other kids on the team didn't try, they should not be rewarded for putting in zero effort. Giving out participation awards is unfair to the kids who are passionate about their sport and drive to improve. In the article “Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message” the author makes a statement saying that when a kid watches a peer receive a trophy while they do not it can be degrading. However, this can be true, but there are alternatives to this. Instead of handing out a trophy to the participants, they can be
The maxim “trying is the important thing” will only lead to laziness and complacency in life. Trying is very important in being successful, but there are many more important things that are necessary for success. Parents try to boost their children’s self-esteem and make their children happy by giving them participation medals, but this is actually counter-productive. Larger and larger amounts of medals and trophies are given for increasingly smaller achievements, and this “everybody’s a winner” mentality can make children grow up to expect success and recognition for a mediocre performance. Children may be led to underachieve and not try their best, which may lead to idleness and lack of achievement in the truly competitive environment of
For example Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford University in California, said in the article “Should Everyone Get a Prize?” written by Brenda Iasevoli that, “‘The trophy has to mean something,’ Dweck told TFK. ‘If we give a trophy to everyone, then the award has no value.’” This shows how if everyone gets a prize, there is no point in getting one at all. It means nothing to have it when everybody has one as well. Additionally, Dr Michelle Anthony an author and psychologist and Karen Coffin a coach who writes about youth sports agreed in the article “Should Everyone Get a Trophy?” written by Lauren Tarshis that “... trophies can lose their meaning when everyone gets one.” This explains how it is senseless to get the trophy because it no longer means anything to the child who receives it. As a result, giving everyone a reward takes away the
The Problems of High School NIL Deals High school athletes are being paid thousands of dollars just by posting on social media, but how? High-profile student-athletes can sign contracts with brands, allowing the brand to use their name, image, and likeness (NIL). This allows the brand to make jerseys of the player, use his or her name for products, and pay them to promote their products by posting on social media. But high school athletes should not be paid NIL deals because athletes can get trapped into unfair contracts, very few athletes would benefit from it, and it would disrupt high school sports. One common opinion surrounding high school NIL deals is that high school athletes should not be paid because they can get trapped in unfair contracts.
There are children who take part in games and activities, but they do not always do their best and work as hard as other children do. In the article, “Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message,” it stated, “When awards are handed out like candy to every child who takes part, they diminish in value. If every soccer player receives a trophy for merely showing up for practice and playing in games, the truly exceptional players are slighted.” In other words, if trophies are given out to all children for showing up, the kids who worked extremely hard will feel like their effort is not deeply appreciated. This may cause their inner drive to lower.
Participation trophies implement the idea that children are excelling at the sport, but in hindsight, the child could be stagnant in developing talent. According to Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck “A child shouldn't have to be the best player on the field to, get a trophy, but it should reward something, like improvement or team spirit.” (Turner) Susan Harter, another psychology professor at the University of Denver asks when we should introduce the fact that there are other children that are better than them (Turner). However, these trophies can help build a solid
In almost everything we do, there is a winner and a loser, but society seems to think that giving out participation trophies is a great idea, even though it’s a flawed way of rewarding. In competitive activities, trophies are the reward for putting in the hard work into whatever you’re competing for and placing first, second, or third. The concept of “everyone gets a trophy,” whether you win or lose, is an insult for the victor... A trophy for everyone is not the best way to create a message that will help improve character development and humility. Moreover, teaching this next generation to learn how to lose is very important and is not discussed enough.