INTRODUCTION
For most of my childhood, (ages 4 to 16) I played competitive travel baseball competing in multiple tournaments both in and out of state. I saw it as a way to put my efforts into a sport and compete for honors such as trophies and receiving tournament invitations. It was a great feeling to not only win a trophy, but to get to hang it up in my bedroom as a reminder of the hard work both me and my teammates put in in order to take home first place. I was never given a participation trophy, if we lost we were told to work harder, to improve until next time. Losing only showed me the value of what it meant to be a winner. Baseball has taught me a lot of things, but most importantly it taught me the value of working hard and earning
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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.” Teamwork is a fundamental value that a young child should learn in order to function in a group setting later in their life. Parker also states that “Self-esteem is a big part of one’s childhood. Watching a peer receive a trophy and not receiving one yourself can be degrading.” This brings into play the fact that some young athletes and children are not playing to always win or earn a trophy and that seeing their peers win something can lower their self esteem in the
First, it teaches young athletes you need to earn rewards. In the article “Should Young Athletes get Participation Trophies” by A. Pawlowski it states, “If everyone gets a trophy it would not teach kids to earn or strive for something.” ( Today.com Nov. 2013) In another part of this article it
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
Handing out participation trophies does not teach kids about the real world. O’Sullivan says, “We reward them for having a parent capable of registering them for a sport.” Participation trophies are for registering and showing up the day they hand out trophies, they are not for hard
Participation trophies to an individual may lead them down a good or bad path, but it depends on how the child receives and views the trophy. The trophy can be harmful making it seem like people don’t have to work hard to accomplish anything, which can affect an individual in the future. The participation of sports is important as it can lead to better time management and teach valuable lessons, and participation trophies help children stay active in the sport. Any individual who receives participation trophies can be lead down a path of
“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
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.
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.
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
Thus, participation trophies are not helpful for children in sports. Additionally, participation trophies can make a huge impact on young athletes’ lives from the start of their athletic debut until they are done with sports. Sadly, these participation trophies can leave a negative impact on children. “It is believed children become less motivated, less resilient, and unable to handle failure or criticism when they receive a trophy for simply showing up” (Diller). Diller shows that participation trophies do have an impact on children.
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.
Participation awards and trophies are detrimental to a child's drive and work ethic. In the past decade a push for the belief that “everybody is a winner” . While the thought behind this is to make sure nobody gets their feelings hurt and to not lower someone's self esteem, it is just not practical in the way life works. Not everybody is a winner, just because you gave your best does not mean that you get a trophy. Participation awards cause children to lose their drive to work hard and be the best at what they do because it puts the false belief that everybody is a winner in their head, and it makes them soft and not know how to handle defeat.
In this essay, I will explain how kids benefit from everyone getting a trophy. Keep in mind that a trophy can be more than a decorated metal cup; it is any object awarded as a prize. I will address three main points in this essay; it makes those who aren’t as skilled as the others feel included, it raises their self-esteem, and it motivates
When it comes to getting awards at the end of a youth sports season, not every participant should get a trophy because it can instill a lack of motivation and hard work in the children that could follow them their whole lives. Neither should only a select few athletes receive a trophy. Trophies should not be given out as awards at all in youth sports. To help prevent parents and children from getting upset about not getting recognition at the end of the season, an alternative option that should take the place of giving out trophies is giving certificates of participation to the young athletes. This approach helps to prevent conflict between parents and coaches, all of the participants can be recognized equally so they feel bad, and and since