Participation Trophies Assessed
Last year, James Harrison tweeted about taking away his kids’ participation trophies because they “didn’t earn them”. That’s how this whole debate started, so I think it would be fitting to start my own debate in the same way. Now to the question at hand: does participation in sports warrant a trophy? I believe that, no, kids don’t need participation trophies.
Participation trophies reward effort, not the final outcome, but do not even require said effort. You could be a total slacker and still get the same award as the best player on the team. The kids who do work hard don’t get a trophy for winning, just for being a part of the team, whether or not they tried. (Source #1) “Life doesn't give you things for doing nothing. That’s a bad lesson”, said BJ of Kansas City Star. (Source #2)
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Children, when they don’t get a reward, it often lowers their self-esteem. Kids who don’t get participation trophies at all are found to understand why they don’t get awards for effort and are more happy and proud of themselves when they do get an actual trophy, knowing it’s for their performance. A child once said to author of ‘Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture’, Hilary Levey Friedman, “Well, I purposely played in this easier one because I knew I would win and now I don’t really count that as a real victory because I knew I went in and it was below my level.” (Source #1) This proves that children do understand that trophies, given when unrequired, aren’t for them doing good. If these participation trophies aren’t making children happy, why do we give them to the
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.
According to researcher and author of “Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing,” Ashley Merryman says “having studied recent increases in narcissism and entitlement among college students, (she) warns that when living rooms are filled with participation trophies, it’s part of a larger cultural message: to succeed, you just have to show up.” She also says “if children know they will automatically get an award, what is the impetus for improvement? Why bother learning problem-solving skills, when there are never obstacles to begin with?” She goes on to say handing out trophies undermines kids’ success: “The benefit of competition isn’t actually winning”. Another author says “when you’re constantly giving a kid a trophy for everything they’re doing, you’re saying, ‘I don’t care about improvement. I don’t care that you’re learning from your mistakes. All we expect is that you’re always a winner’” (Ross). These particiation trophies have many negative effects that can make these children less succesful in competitive enviornments: such as college or in the work force. It will also make them less prepared for an independent life after leaving
A participation trophy can help a child's drive to improve. When a child plays a game and loses, but then watches the other team get a trophy they feel that they suck and won't try to improve. Once they get a participation trophy they make the child feel like they did good and that next time if they get better they will get a bigger trophy for winning and not losing. For instance, “Further, studies also tell us that children who participate in sports get better…”(Huffington 1). This exemplifies that children who participate feel the drive to get better at the sport. When inferring that since they participated they are getting an award if makes them feel like they did good, and then they want to get even better to get a better reward. Thus making the kids get better at the sport showing that participation trophies are beneficial to children, but there are more opportunities to show how they are
About one year ago, I played on a Pburg Liners basketball team. It was the championship game and we really wanted to win, but we did not play well, so as a result, we lost. After the game, our coach gave us all trophies. On the other hand , I was thinking, did we actually deserve them. Apparently, some people think that everyone should get a participation trophy. However, people strongly believe not everyone should get a trophy. People believe this because kids who only show up to some practices and do not try hard should definitely not get the same recognition as a person who shows up to all of the practices and works really hard. It teaches kids that young kids have to
In the 2011 essay “Do We All Deserve Gold? Setting Kids Up To Fail”, Vivian Diller, PhD, writes that “awards can intensify competition, impact self-esteem, get parents too involved and add tension among coaches, but they also teach kids about winning and
Participation trophies are a cause of unacceptable attitude in children. Typically in youth sports, at the end of a game or a season, children will be given an award, usually a trophy, as an award for trying their best and showing up to practice and or games. Everyone on their team will receive this award. Although these trophies may seem insignificant, they have sparked a large debate in the youth sports world. Despite what others think, participation trophies should not be given to kids in sports because it leads to narcissism and unhealthy self-esteem, undermines actual success, and makes losing even tougher for kids to deal with.
First of all, participation trophies can make kids feel like they are not good, or they are worthless to their team. Participation trophies let kids get rewarded for not acomplishing anything. I believe that if you want something in life you are going to have to work hard for it to achieve it. Participation trophies are a waste of money for the sports foundations providing the trophies. The money used for participation trophies could be used for the betterment of something else sports related like getting new equipment, or building a new baseball feild, or a new basketball court. The people that get participation trophies feel like they wasted their money on something that does not give them any pleasure.
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
Have you ever have a kid on your team miss half of the practices, and games? If so, then why should kids get a trophy for showing up? In society, many people are arguing whether or not kids should get trophies for participation. Not everyone should get a trophy for participation. First, if kids want something in life they have to work for it. Second, trophies are only for winners. Lastly, giving kids trophies could send them the wrong message.
In the op-ed “Losing is Good for You”, the author talks about how participation trophies can lead to narcissism and entitlement later in life. Children begin looking forward to getting a trophy at the end of a season, no matter what. This belief has kept with the children into adulthood. Now, many people feel as if they should automatically get a promotion, even if they have done nothing to earn it.
When a child goes out to go play tee ball one year, let's say he does not get a participation trophy. Than the next year he tries his best works hard, but he still want that trophy so he starts yelling and being disrespectful to his teammates. That is the last thing that you want in your 7 year old, especially since he will work with peers to accomplish a goal all of his life. If you give him a trophy, the message is very clear. You did a good job and you worked hard. If you tell children this, their easily impressionable young minds will cling to the idea that hard work is rewarded. Now people say that hard work is not always rewarded, and that you do not always succeed in life by working hard,but that is false. If you are trying out for a baseball team and you get on the team but you never play,but the coach sees you out there everyday working hard and supporting your teammates, if any of your teammates get injured or can not make the games, you will be the first person they call up. Winning is fun, but having respect and working hard is
When every child inherits a trophy for just playing or showing up, they don’t learn anything. Along with its many bearings, Merryman claims another, participation trophies don’t just cost a lot of money, underachieve athletes, but also cheat athletes. Ashley Merryman, along with Bradley Morris and Shannon Zentall asserts with recent studies, “ By age 4 or 5, children aren’t fooled by all the trophies. They are surprisingly accurate in identifying who excels and who struggles… those who do well feel cheated when they aren't recognized for their accomplishments” (Merryman 8). This illustrates how without participation trophies children can be recognized for their accomplishments.
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.
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