Essay Young Athletes Should Not Give Out Participation Trophies

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Over the years, many sports leagues have given out participation trophies to young athletes. Today, a lot of leagues are no longer giving out trophies to everyone. Leagues should not give out participation trophies because it teaches kids that you don’t need to earn anything, ruins getting an award by not making it a special thing, and teaches young athletes that you will always win. However, some people may argue that leagues should give out participation trophies. In an article by Lisa Hefferman on Today.com, it states “ the idea of giving trophies to only the winners doesn’t emphasize enough of the other values that are important.” (Today.com Aug. 2015) While this may seem true their are many other lessons children can learn from earning a trophy. These lessons may seem important there are many other important lessons children could learn from getting a trophy. In conclusion, young athletes should not get participation trophies. 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 …show more content…

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

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