Argumentative Essay: Should Participation Awards Be Paid?

Did I win? Is the question that most students ask themselves while waiting to be recognized for their accolades. However, some believe that kids should be awarded automatically, just for participating. I believe that participation awards should not be given to everyone because we work to succeed, participation awards stunt personal growth, and participation awards will cause people to lose the drive to be great. To start, I believe that participation awards shouldn't be given because we work to succeed. First, I believe that participation awards shouldn’t be given because we work to win or succeed. The ability to discern winning and losing is a very important quality in life.(Armideo) Giving participation awards will cause one to not understand

Some children are very arrogant and a participation award will only blind them from the mistakes that they made during their work.(Chen) Participation awards will only cause children to lack in the areas of accountability and responsibility. “[l]ike many other things in life, educating our children seems to be all about balance,”(Chen) Observing the text one will find that this evidence demonstrates that motivating children doesn’t have to be as dramatic as giving an participation award, one will have to encourage them to learn from their mistakes and come back next time more wiser and more prepared. Finally, I believe participation awards will cause students to lose their

Some believe that participation awards should be given because it boosts children’s confidence, it gives them something to look forward to, and it instills qualities that some don’t obtain. Although these could be considered good claims, they are absolutely incorrect for a number of reasons. While one may think that an participation award would build one’ s confidence it only builds a sense of entitlement and encourages laziness. Kids begin to feel content with their current abilities and don’t see the need to improve when they know there will be an award given no matter how hard they work.(Chen) One may say that it gives a child something to look forward to. Even though this seems to be a valid reason, it is not at all. When a child loses, it should drive one to work harder and try again in order to receive success, if a child loses the interest to try again after a couple losses, it may not be that they don’t have anything look forward to, it just that they don’t feel the need to diminish their weaknesses and seek the areas they need to improve in. “Overconfidence blinds a person from his faults and prevents growth…”(Chen) Lastly, some believe that participation awards will instill qualities that some children don’t obtain. There are many ways to instill qualities into a less fortunate child, but an participation award just isn’t the solution. “[w]here is the line that divides constructive