Now that some children are back in school and many youth sports are back in season, the discussion over participation trophies has arrived as well. I'm sure that many of us were once part of a team in which participation trophies were awarded to every team member. Although winning trophies is fun, I think that trophies should be reserved for players or teams that actually win. I'm not saying that ribbons, certificates, or even words of encouragement should be stripped from children too. I just think that there should be a separation for the high achievers in these youth sports. From my standpoint, I believe that children and teens would work harder at improving their craft if there were a reward or prize they were working for. That being said, children should still be recognized for their hard work in a different way. A simple "Good game!" or "You'll get 'em nextime!" encourages children to continue working hard while also recognizing effort and talent, even if they didn't win. Besides, we learn many of our life lessons from defeat. Studies show that children who are given room to improve their talents and skills have a more positive self image in the future. What do you think? Should we reserve trophies for victors and let children work hard to develop their skills? Should we award all children, even the winners, in the same way to keep things fair?
-Nene Usim
https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/10/06/should-every-young-athlete-get-a-trophy
I believe that too many trophies and awards are handed out to children. Awards are for winners, so they should be kept for the people who go above and beyond expectations. Children receive trophies without working hard and earning it. As a result, the children who actually work hard for their trophies feel as though it is unfair because they may have worked twice as hard to get the same trophy. This can lower the self-esteem of children because if everyone receives a trophy, it takes away the significance and sense of accomplishment that one might feel from receiving a trophy. Trophies and awards should be scarce and hard to get. To get a trophy, the person should have worked hard for it. Simply showing up is not an accomplishment and does not need to be recognized because everyone is well aware that they have participated. Awards should be handed out sparingly and, they should be saved for people who earn it through hard work and dedication.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who played sports as a child I hate the idea of participation trophies. Even if I was the one who lost I felt it as pointless because I did not deserve it. Children should be taught that hard work and dedication calls for reward, not that everyone should be treated the same for showing up. I would take it as far to only give the first place winners an award, so the second place teams know they need to become better. I am one who believes you need to work for everything you get in life and teaching kids at such a young age that it does not matter how hard you work you are going to get an award is foolish. The value of hard work is being lost in society.
ReplyDeleteI believe that trophies should be given solely to the first place winners in any sport and not to other teams that lost because once they are given to them, the significance of trophies is not the same. However, I also believe that when it comes to sports or competitions involving children, they should get some type of reward and not go home empty handed. The type of reward that I am talking about can be anything from getting a few words from their coaches to getting different trophies. The trophies that I think should be given to the teams that didn't win should depend on how far they got so basically like a gold trophy for first place and a silver trophy for second place. In my opinion, this would motivate the kids to try harder even more than having not received any trophy as they will want to try harder to earn the better trophy next time.
ReplyDeleteI agree that only the winners should be awarded with a trophy or a ribbon. If prizes of equal value were given to all children, the winners would feel unmotivated to compete again because winning would mean less to them. If everyone gets a prize despite one child working the hardest, then what is the point of the competition? Of course, that doesn't mean we should stop encouraging the other kids to try harder or rub their face in the mud. Friendly competition is great for all parties as it emboldens everyone to try harder in order to win.
ReplyDeleteI believe that awarding only high achievers is a good approach to getting children to work hard. Reward instills desire and drive into people to work harder and more precisely. I believe that awarding everyone regardless of what they accomplished compared to other is putting children at a disadvantage because it leads them to believe that they will always be rewarded in life regardless of the extent of their successes and failures. Awarding only winners is a good way to teach children the reality of life that not everything will be fair. To be awarded in society, you must be successful and polite in everything that you do. Making everyone a winner devalues the reward and accomplishment which will harm the children in the future because they will not have a strong desire to succeed and give their full effort into everything that comes their way. I believe that awarding every child in order to make it fair and to keep people happy is setting children up for failure in the future. The desire to succeed is built once people experience the feelings of failure.
ReplyDeleteIt is not fair to grant participation trophies to children for simply being involved in the competition. It teaches them that they earned something valuable without even trying. Growing up with these teachings will not allow children to go far in life. They will grow up thinking that life is going to reward them, not for their hard work but, for their mild contributions. If winners, who actually deserve a trophy, get the same reward as participants, they will feel as though all of their hard work was for nothing. Instead of giving all participants trophies, trophies should only be awarded to winners; however, there should still be ribbons for participation or even participation certificates to encourage children to put more effort into their hard work, so they can also win a trophy some day.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do not find the use of giving out trophies for participation, I do believe that it is beneficial in their growing of character, more so than the sport in some cases. For instance, whenever I used to participate in sports, the older I got, the more I valued the genuine effort that I would put into it rather than the physical object. However, I can also see the interest in providing these things for children for the sake of remembering in the future. For example, on plenty of occasions have I rediscovered an article of a past sport, whether it be a plaque or commemorative paper that has my name on it.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, to conclude my opinion, I respectfully disagree with Javier’s opinion to only award trophies and such to first place winners. In my experience as an athlete, when I would occasionally earn the medal of 2nd or 3rd, I would be upset due to the lack of the gain of the first place position. Yet, as I have gotten older, I believe that the medal/ commemorative object drives me to be better the next time I would come across that task as such. Overall, if the child displays an interest in it, why change it?