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, …show more content…
To illustrate, Ashley Merryman, the author of the article “Losing is Good for You” states, “ However, when it comes to rewards, people argue that kids must be treated identically: everyone must always win. That is misguided. And there are negative outcomes. Not for just specific children, but for society as a whole.” This explains that when kids get trophies, they think that they are always going to win, no matter how poorly they did their job. This can cause major problems in the society, such as companies not improving. In addition, Ashley Merryman also states, “ Having studied recent increases in narcissism [having an excessive interest in oneself; an over inflated ego often due to parents’ overvaluation] and entitlement among college students, she [Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me] 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.” This shows that even young kids are starting to be egoistic, and that can stick with them their entire life. When kids will go into the real world, it would be too late to realize that winning is not important. As a result, narcissism increases in the kids and makes them
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.
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
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
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.
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
Naturally, some children are better at sports than others. On a team which does not give out participation trophies, but gives out trophies for hitting the farthest or running the fastest, the child who does not fall into any of those categories can be left feeling useless and inadequate. A child who gives 100% and dosent get rewarded for it is more likely to give up the sport completely than if he were to be given a trophy for engaging and participating. Also, when every child receives a trophy, it can be used to teach the importance of teamwork and the necessity of every individual on a team, not just the talented ones. Every child receiving a participation trophy weaves a common thread throughout the team to hold it together.
Have you ever known the feeling of seeing all of your friends getting trophies and not you? A feeling of being left out is one of the effects of not giving children participation trophies. Children should get participation trophies to boost team and self-moral.
Kids need to work hard to get the reward that they deserve. Participation trophies are not honoring any specific accomplishments whatsoever, which is why they are often condemned. “Last month, Harrison posted on Instagram a photo and message saying he had taken away the trophies given to his 6- and 8-year-old football-playing sons. To raise his boys to be men, he said he needs them to understand that even trying “their best” shouldn’t entitle them to award.” (Ross)
Weak-mindedness, a great struggle for our generation, is one of the leading causes of stupidity. The weak-minded fools of our generation are the ones who will someday be in charge of things in this country. From an extremist view, participation trophies could quite possibly be the downfall of the entire country. We are being set up to
Opponents argue that participation trophies are fair solution in youth sports. However, if both teams received a trophy it would not be fair to the winning team. The team that wins is the team that put forth the proper effort in preparing for the game. Children need to learn that they cannot win everything in life, it is impossible to always win. But at the same time, children also need to learn that it is okay to lose at times. Losing is a great too...
Todays generation of kids have been crafted to expect praise for everyday tasks and have become entitled all because of something many people thought was harmless, participation trophies. If you ask anyone, they have probably recieved a participation trophy at least once in their life and some will think it was a good thing, but others may beg to differ. In my opinion participation trophies are a bad tool in life because it goes along and is a big part of the we are all winners concept. Trophies should be a symbol of accomplishing something not a symbol of participation in an activity and a few people have written about their opinion about this situation varying from critical writers, to college athletes from around the country here are
A popular controversial subject is whether or not children should receive awards for participation; recognition for participation makes children lazy. Po Branson says, “Nonstop recognition does not inspire children to succeed. Instead, it can cause them to underachieve.” If a child knows that he is capable of receiving an award in football, then he will strive to reach his full potential in order to get it. An award like a participation award will cause a child to work less, for he knows that he will receive an award regardless. Trophies should be awarded to individuals who stand out in competition. When everyone participates and receives an award for it, then the award is not really an award. The American Youth Soccer Organization spends 12% of its annual budget on trophies, one for each of its athletes and about one third of these 3500 athletes receive two awards. This shows that even the biggest companies in sports are guilty of giving out pointless awards for kids
Works Cited Alfano, Andrea. “Too Much Praise Promotes Narcissism.” Scientific American, 1 June 2015, www.scientificamerican.com/article/too-much-praise-promotes-narcissism/. Belau, Katherine, et al. “Participation Trophies - ‘Special’ or ‘Harmful.’” Character and Leadership, 11 July 2017, www.characterandleadership.com/participation-trophies-special-or-harmful/. “Do We All Deserve Gold? Setting Kids Up To Fail.”
One reason not everyone should receive a reward, is that they lose their meaning when everyone gets one. According to Coffin,” Some experts suggest that giving trophies to everyone can send the wrong message.” She also says, “ Receiving a pat on the back, a thumbs up from the coach… any sign of appreciation is what keeps kids coming back.” This