The Generic Blue Ribbon System is Destroying The American Dream

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John Darns worked hard his entire soccer season for his trophy; he attended every practice, went beyond the required off season training, and always left the field knowing he left everything he possessed on there. With grass stains in his shorts and bloody scrapes on his knees, he was finally rewarded with the championship trophy, that beautiful two feet tall golden trophy with a man on top in the middle of kicking what would be a perfect goal. Yes, he wore that orange tiger on his jersey well; he truly deserved that trophy. Yet a few feet away, are The Black Hawks, the team who lost every game the entire season, getting an almost identical trophy for participating in the league. They did not work as hard: they practiced less than half as much as John’s team, and they are rewarded almost equally to make sure everyone feels like a winner. The concept that every child deserves a blue ribbon or a trophy for trying their best plagues generation Y every day of their young lives.
The principle behind our entire society is if one works hard he/she will be rewarded justly, this principle is considered the framework for the American dream. Writer of the Century History Review, Tony McCulloch, referred to the American dream as, “all American citizens should be able to better themselves through hard work, especially in their education and employment, so that they could achieve a higher standard of living (16+).” For hard work there must be incentive such as a better job or acceptance into a top tier school. Today adults actively reward all children regardless of the achievements or lack thereof. The generic blue ribbon system actively destroys all incentive for hard work by essentially promising children they will be rewarded for just sho...

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Conrad, Cameron. “U.S. Education Spending Tops Other Countries.” Studentsfirst.org. Students
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Dillon, Sam. “Federal Researchers Find Lower Standards in Schools.” Nytimes.com. New York
Times, 29 Oct. 2009. Web. 16 Feb. 2014
Kenny, Charles. “The Real Reasons Why America’s Schools Stink.” Businessweek.com.
Bloomberg Business Week, 19 Aug. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
McCulloch, Tony. "Civil rights and the American Dream 1945-81: Tony McCulloch gives an overview of what was achieved in the pursuit of civil rights for all US citizens from the presidency of Roosevelt to that of Reagan." 20th Century History Review 6.4 (2011): 16+. General OneFile. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
Weisenthal, Joe. “Here's The New Ranking Of Top Countries In Reading, Science, And Math.”
Businessinsider.com. Business Insider Inc, 3 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.

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