The Problems of the Participation Trophy 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. Some people think that giving children a participation trophy after a sports game or season is a helpful thing to do. People may think this because it can teach kids the importance of showing up to practice and games and trying your best, which are important skills later in life. (Heffernan 1) Kids will also be happy that their hard work is being acknowledged and rewarded, in the form of a trophy. (Heffernan 1) However, this …show more content…
(Fader 1) When a child is told that trying their best is enough, it makes it much harder for them to deal with losing a game. They will think that because they tried their best they should have won. Instead of noticing plays that their team did wrong, the child will mostly become angry at the other team. Thinking they “should’ve won” because they tried their hardest. This can make the future of a kid a lot more difficult. This is because if they don’t get into the college they want or they don’t obtain a job they want, they may throw a fit. If they can’t keep their anger in check over losing, it can be detrimental to relationships with other people and their own image. This is not the only other reason why trophies should not be given out to children
Children shouldn't be given participation trophies, this can cause false sense of confidence and it can make them expect to always be a winner in life. This can affect them every day not everyone will nail that job interview or win the game and it will be hard on them not being able to except that they lost or couldn't do it. You don't get paid to just show up at a job, you have to work. You don't win by showing up to the hockey
He didn’t take his sport seriously because he knew he was going to get a trophy anyway, whether he won or lost. Giving a trophy to a kid who maybe didn’t participate in a game but tried his absolute hardest in practice to get better is understandable. However, giving a kid who did nothing in practice to make himself better just shows that child that you don’t need to work for anything in life because either way you will get rewarded. “There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.” And what about those kids who aren’t that great at activities, or they don’t show up to practices? Should they still get a trophy? Are they qualified to sit in the same category as a kid who works their butts off in practice, shows up everyday, and is a good sport? I understand showing that everyone is equal, but there comes a point when you have to show a child that they need to work for what they
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,
It is ok for children to lose and for them to learn from it. Merryman says, “It’s teaching them it can take a long time to get good at something and that’s alright” (Merryman). Children learn from failure, it teaches them that it takes time and patience to get good at something. Merryman also says, “It’s through hard work and mistakes that we learn the most. We must focus on process and progress, not results and rewards” (Merryman). It takes hard work to win, Children should focus on getting better, not on rewards. Children need to learn that to win it takes hard work and time, they should focus on improving, not on getting participation trophies.
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
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
Merryman, an author of two books pertaining to her objective somewhat promoting an ethos appeal, is against the use of participation trophies. Her objective is to rid the role these objects have in a child’s life in regards to how they might view losing. The audience she reaches out toward is any adult who is affiliated with children. To
But by doing this, it can also send a wrong message to kids who get them for not winning. They could think that these trophies are given for everyone. One quote from the article called “Should Everyone Get a Trophy” by Lauren Tarshis say’s,”But some experts suggest that giving trophies to everyone sends the wrong message. In life, most people are not awarded for simply doing what’s required.” So this tells that giving trophies for every child can tell them something other than what others want them to know. Another quote from the same article states,”An employee doesn’t get a raise just to arriving to work on time. Shouldn’t only the hardest working or the highest performing athletes get the accolades.”This message is what trophies try to tell kids but they can’t because people keep giving these awards to everyone just for
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.
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
If a child loses a game and then gets participating trophy what did he learn. Participation trophies rob children of chances to learn how and experience criticism from many time someone who will be constructive and show them it can be good for a coach or a parent. Without these opportunities, children lose out on chances to learn how to learn from their failures rather than let their failure conquer them or stunt their growth. Criticism can be a powerful tool in life used to succeed but I can be crippling to children if they are don't know how to take it use it and apply it in their
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
Also according to Ashley Merryman, co- author of “Top Dog: The Science Of Winning And Losing,” “They don’t give our kids room to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes.” So therefore, participation trophies are not helpful because in order to reach success, you have to be willing to try hard and overcome failure or mistakes. (Website 2) Another reason participation trophies are not needed is the fact that not all kids necessarily deserve participation trophies. Since not all athletes work hard, have good sportsmanship,