Peter Dazely's room for debate article on whether or not children should receive participation trophies really got me thinking. I have come to the conclusion that no, they should not be receiving participation trophies. First of all, it is degrading to the idea of a trophy. If a child wants one that bad, they should practice hard and constantly in order to reach a podium position and receive one. If the child sees his opponents, who lost, receiving a trophy for just participating then it will encourage the child not to try his best because he will always get something no matter what his performance was on the field. It teaches children that they can do nothing with their lives and still succeed which is not a good real world lesson because if you do not do what is required of you at your job, you will not be paid and will likely end up fired.
Many people claim that this is unfair to the children who tried but did not succeed, and to that I say why let your kid live their childhood in an overly protective bubble only to have it implode on them when life becomes hard and unfair. Life is not always easy and it can be very difficult at times. Your job as a parent should be to protect and care for your child, while at the same time preparing them for the long journey ahead of them in which they will often fall down and fail. Learning to pick yourself up from failures like that should be part of childhood because it so well prepares children for the big game called life.
I completely agree with you on this. Children should not receive trophies for just participating. The children that won should be the only ones receiving the trophies. If everyone got one then the meaning of the award would be demeaning. Those that won would not be so proud of themselves knowing that everyone gets a trophie. The children are going to grow up one day and have to face the challenges of life. If they're rewarded for participation they won't know how to pick themselves up after a failure just like you said.
ReplyDeleteI too agree that children shouldn't be given a trophy because they participated, because it wouldn't be teaching them simple life skills. In order for a child to learn and grow as a person they need to be aware that we won't always obtain what we want. They should be rewarded once they've accomplished a goal, or achieved something that they've never before had. Also, I believe that it's crucial for a person to know how to lose, because it's a skill that can help you grow. Overall, I completely agree with all your points, and I just wanted to remind you to sign your post or else you won't receive any credit.
ReplyDeleteAS you mention, other than the fact that competition would no longer be valid, ubiquitous trophies won’t teach children certain life lessons that are the foundation to important life lessons. Giving free prizes will indeed not promote determination and hard work but laziness and lack of effort. Aside from glory, crucial moments that would have provided inspiration to work determinedly will cease. Well put analysis on this topic Jeremy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, children shouldn’t be given a trophy because it wouldn’t teach them anything. If they want a trophy, they would work extra hard to win one. When I used to play in volleyball tournaments, there would be tournaments where my teammates and I wouldn’t get anything. What I learned from that is we should try extra hard at practice and get ready for the next tournament to win a trophy. Eventually, we did get a trophy from all the hard work at practices. Getting a participation trophy is really nothing, and what really matters is getting that big trophy.
ReplyDeleteI completely see where you come from and agree with your view. The sense of competitiveness that a child can receive from striving to be the best is amazing for their adult life. It will push them to work harder than the rest and that is really important. By not receiving participation trophies it also makes a kid realize that if they do not put in the work then they will receive nothing but if they do then they can get a trophy or a promotion later in their adult life.
ReplyDeleteI see what you are saying, but this also can bring a child hopes down. I'm pretty sure if I didn't receive all the trophies I got when I was little, I would have stop playing sports. Cause it makes me feel like I can't accomplish nothing which brings down my hopes. If a kid gets a small trophy for participation and he see his friend get a MVP award that would make the child notice he didn't try hard enough so next year when he does put that grind in he might get the MVP award. If we as teens know that are parents aren't going to buy us a car, we wouldn't take are permit test. So if a child doesn't have a trophy or award to work for they'll give up and be a quitter for the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteYes, I strongly agree with you! If participation trophies were a real thing, everyone would participate just to get a trophy. We wouldn't really know what kind of struggle you would have to go through to get any trophy at all. I completely agree that if we do allow participation trophies to exist, kids will never learn how to earn something they deserve from hard work. Like you said, life isn't easy and what are we teaching kids by rewarding them for not getting 1st or 2nd place? If a kid sees his friends with a 1st and 2nd place trophy and he was empty handed, that itself should motivate him to do better and work harder so he can be where his friends are and so he can feel like he accomplished something.
ReplyDeleteI one-hundred percent agree with what you have said on this topic. Participation trophies are just a way to make kids feel not bad for losing, and to still reward them for trying. Yet it's taking away the meaning of winning, what's the point of winning if everyone is just going to get a trophy? Also, when a kid comes in second and receives no trophy, but sees the first place kid get a trophy, it may motivate him to practice more and worker harder for that first place trophy. Kids need to be able to accept the fact that they will lose at some things, or they will never be able to get through life when real world problems hit them.
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