Participation Award Essay

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Congratulations, this award has been presented to oneself for running around the field, and doing nothing to help the team! Many children play sports because of the exhilaration and trepidation they get(acquired?) when participating. But whether or not they play club or recreational depends on the mindset. In club sports, children play to win, not for a participation award. By giving a minor a participation award, it not only makes them less resilient, but also influences their decision making later in life; some people may believe that the award will boost their self-esteem, but in reality, it doesn’t properly prepare them for the cruel world ahead. Awarding a child with a participation trophy could affect their decision making when …show more content…

For instance, “ today’s 20-somethings are struggling in the cold world after enjoying childhoods filled with warmth and support,”(Diller 4). This shows that when teens are immersed in the adult world, they have no idea what to do. These children grew up not knowing how the world is because of situations like this. They were always told that they were great at everything and they got an award for everything. Breaking news, that's not how life works. Another example is,
Stanford researcher, Carol Dweck offered her thoughts about this issue in the New York Times piece, “Too Much Praise is No Good for Toddlers.” After studying children’s coping and resilience mechanisms for over 40 years, she says too much praise may lead to less resilient children. Acknowledging children’s everyday achievements, she says, will likely have negative repercussions on their motivation to work toward them, (Diller 6).
This shows that by celebration every one of a child’s small accomplishments will hurt them in the long run. They will lose work drive because they think that they will be rewarded anyway. By thinking this, they become less ambitious people and end up being surprised when they enter the real

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