The No Winners, No Losers Generation

1406 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Low self esteem in children the effects

“Tro-phy; noun: A cup or other decorative object awarded as a prize for a victory or success” (Oxford Dictionary). Not too long ago, some well-meaning person or persons made a decision that would greatly impact today’s generation of kids. They decided that we needed to give all children a trophy for only simply participating. There became an unwritten rule that it was "wrong" to celebrate winning, because it would hurt the losers' feelings. Now days a team who goes undefeated in a youth sport will receive a trophy, but so will all the children who came in last place and did not win a single game. Society has spent so much time worrying about our children's self-esteem, or hurting their feelings that they have missed the boat on teaching them hard, but much needed life lessons. Participation trophies and praises are almost a given as children are constantly assured that they are winners, and this has become a fiery debate amongst parents and coaches. The “no winners, no losers” culture we are creating for this generation of kids is having negative life-long consequences in school and the workplace; however, it has not always been this way.
Trophies were once rare possessions — sterling silver or gold prized cups used for only earned special occasions. During the 1960s, trophies began to be mass-produced by the millions. They were advertised in catalogs to coaches, teachers, and sold in sporting-goods stores. It is appraised today that “trophy and award sales are now an estimated $3 billion-a-year industry in the United States and Canada” (Merryman). Not only are trophy sales extremely high but youth association’s also hand them out like crazy. “In Southern California, a regional branch of the American Youth Soccer Organization han...

... middle of paper ...

...n/drupalm/research>.
Gratton, Lynda. "The Three Paradoxes Of Generation Y." Forbes. Forbes Magazine. 6 June 2013. Web. 12 May 2014. .
Merryman, Ashley. "Losing Is Good for You." The New York Times. The New York Times. 24 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 May 2014. .
"Definition of trophy in English:." trophy: definition of trophy in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US). Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. .
Weisman, Aly. "15 People Who Failed Before Becoming Famous." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc. 29 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 May 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Argumentative Essay: Should Kids Get Participation Trophies?

    311 Words  | 1 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Millenial Stein The New Greatest Generation Summary

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his essay, “The New Greatest Generation: Why Millennials Will Save Us All,” American journalist Joel Stein suggests that the same conditions that have caused millennials to be narcissistic and have a sense of entitlement growing up can also empower millennials to be more innovative and create new opportunities.

    Read More

  • Essay On Participation Trophies

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Participation Trophies Analysis

    420 Words  | 1 Pages

    Handing out participation trophies does not teach kids about the real world. O’Sullivan says, “We reward them for having a parent capable of registering them for a sport.” Participation trophies are for registering and showing up the day they hand out trophies, they are not for hard

    Read More

  • Participation Trophies Research Paper

    1621 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to a community soccer organization in Southern California, “the American Youth Soccer Organization hands out roughly 3,500 awards each season — each player gets one, while around a third get two” (Merryman). This community also spends up to twelve percent of the athletic budget a year on these types of trophies. The way this community values awards to children is not beneficial and does not teach them important life lessons. Giving every child a trophy in a community may cause them to underachieve; on the other hand it can also be a motivator to keep some kids active in sports. In sports as well as life there are winners and losers and children have to start understanding that little by little.

    Read More

  • Essay: Should Kids Get Trophies For Participation?

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some people may argue that if everyone gets a trophy, everyone will be happy. That might be an understandable concern, however, according to people on blog.sportssignup.com, “By acknowledging everyone with the same award we’re actually celebrating no one and even undermining the efforts of those who really deserve to be recognized.” Similarly, it makes the kids who work really hard feel like there efforts were equal or worse than the efforts of those who do not try hard and do not work hard. On the other hand, if everyone gets a trophy than winners are no longer special. Kids should play sports because they enjoy playing them, not because they want a trophy. It is like one of those arcade games at the movie theater, you keep playing until you win. Another way to say this is, sports were made because they wanted to let people have fun and try to compete, but now sports is turning into the concept of everyone is a winner. Kids and adults feel like we are ruining what sports are supposed to be. In summary, many citizens think that kids should not get trophies for participation because only kids who work hard deserve

    Read More

  • The Generic Blue Ribbon System is Destroying The American Dream

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The New Greatest Generation: Why Millennials Will Save Us All

    897 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the years, the older generations –The Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, and Generation X—have viewed Millennials as the lowest generation. They have illustrated this adverse title of the millennials that the world views to be true, but in late May of 2013, Joel Stein, a product of Generation X, wrote, “The New Greatest Generation: Why Millennials Will Save Us All” towards the older generations to prove them wrong. This article attempts to persuade Stein’s audience to believe that Millennials are not what the world has described them to be. Throughout his article, Stein informs the audience that although statistics portray Millennials to be narcissistic, he has faith that the Millennials are the future. While Stein did use data in

    Read More

  • Ineffective Argument in Jessica Statsky's Essay, Children need to Play, Not Compete

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    Statsky also makes another faulty assumption, which is that competition is an adult imposition on the world of children’s play. She says in her article, “The primary goal of a professional athlete – winning – is not appropriate for children” (629). Children compete to win in the same way that adults do, and they do so on their own without any adult pressure. Common playground gam...

    Read More

  • Essay Young Athletes Should Not Give Out Participation Trophies

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • How Millennials Are Redefining the American Dream

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nearly 3.7 million American babies born in 1982 were the first members of the new Generation Y, or more affectionately known as millenials (Thompson, par. 1). Many things play into whether a generation is considered to be faring ‘better’ than another one; job opportunities, the state of the environment, whether the U.S. is at peace or at war, income vs. living expenses, the general happiness of the people, and the list goes on. Millenials are part of a special generation because for decades, “The American Dream” has included the belief that the future generation will fare better than the present one; however, millenials are not projected to fare better than the present generation X for many reasons.

    Read More

  • Awarding Participation Trophies For Children

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Trophies In Sports

    601 Words  | 2 Pages

    Coaches spend too much money on trophies. First, author Ashley Merryman of “Losing Is Good for You” says,”Trophies were once rare things -- sterling silver loving cups bought from jewelry stores for truly special occasions. But in the 1960s, they began to be mass-produced, marketed in catalogs to teachers and coaches, and sold in sporting-goods stores.” This is how coaches started to spend all this money on trophies and other awards.

    Read More

  • 'Forget Trophies, Let Kids Know O. K. To Lose'

    1571 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Kids Should Not Win Without Effort

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    “‘No,’ says Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck. ‘Kids should not be given trophies simply for participating’” (Turner). Giving all players and teams an award holds back the winners, when actually the winners should be soaring into the sky. To hold back winners demotivates them and demoralizes them.

    Read More

More about The No Winners, No Losers Generation

Open Document