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Do We Give Children Too Many Trophies Analysis

873 Words4 Pages

Mayson Seemann
Mrs. Olson
English 103
27 February 2017
Taking a Stand Essay
Losing is a Part of Life
In today’s world we reward children just for showing up to a sporting event, competition, or contest of some kind. But, is that the right thing to do? We are worried that if we let children lose, it will hurt their feelings and self-esteem, but really I think we are hurting them more by not letting them lose. Why should we raise our children up to believe that just because they showed up to the event they deserve a trophy? We are teaching them that losing is so awful that we can’t let it happen, so everyone gets to be a winner. As a society, we should not give children participation trophies because it is teaching them to accept failure.
Trophies …show more content…

Learning that everyone fails isn’t an easy lesson to accept, but the sooner we teach our children, the better off they will be. In Michael Gonchar’s article, “Do We Give Children Too Many Trophies?,” Ashley Merryman argues that participation trophies can send a dangerous message. She says, “Thus letting kids lose, or not take home the trophy, isn’t about embarrassing children. It’s about teaching them it can take a long time to get good at something, and that’s all …show more content…

In Kelly Wallace's article on CNN's website she said, "In fact, a study earlier this year found that children whose parents overvalued them were more likely to develop narcissistic traits, such as superiority and entitlement…." If children start to develop those traits at a young age, how are they going to act when they are older? Those traits won’t benefit them, they will most likely hurt them later in life. At some point in a child’s life there will come a time when they do not get rewarded, and that will have negative effects on them both emotionally and mentally. When children get participation trophies and rewards they start to realize that they don’t have to do anything to get that reward. They will eventually stop trying, but they will still expect to get a reward. When children who have grown up receiving endless awards for participation grow up and go off to college, they will do the work that needs to be done, but they don’t have the want or will to do it well (Merryman). Then, when they get an actual job, they will still believe that attendance is all it takes to get a promotion

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In the short story “participation trophies send a dangerous message” written by Betty Berden, Berden talks about how children shouldn’t be rewarded for participating only to winners. Also reading from “participating trophies send a powerful message” written by Parker Abate, Abate discusses how children should be rewarded with trophies because of their hard work and dedication. “In addition to acknowledging their effort, they also received trophies or certificates, reminding them that they were part of a team. Children should be rewarded with trophies for participating so that everyone is treated equally. While reading both passages, “participation trophies send a dangerous message” by Betty Berden and “participation trophies send a powerful

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The popular statement, “Children are our future," applies to life every day. We are responsible for what we give to them and know how it will affect them. In the article, “Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message” by Betty Berden, Berden explains the negative effects of giving participation trophies to children. Another author who explains the effect of participation trophies is Parker Abate. In Abate’s article, “Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message,” Abate highlights the positive effects of a participation trophy.

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Initially, participation trophies should be handed out to children because it boosts their self-esteem. While some people believe that trophies should be given out to “first, second and third” place

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It could cause the kids to think that they don’t have to work any harder and that they will just get a trophy fot every good or bad thing they do. The last reason why kids shouldn’t get participartion trophies is becuause all you athletes need to know how the real world

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If they know they’ll be rewarded for something but they have to take a shortcut for it, they are taking that shortcut 9 out of 10 times. This is because of how kids are raised in today's society. The world is a cruel place. If you can't cope with yourself just because you didn’t receive an award, you won't make it far. How can kids learn if they are getting rewarded for not fighting to win?

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Participation trophies are not beneficial to kids and adults for lots of reasons. They could possibly lead to narcissism. According to CNN, studies have shown that parents that overvalue their kids, the kids are more likely to develop narcissistic traits. “That if you tell a kid that they’re wonderful, and they believe you, then is confirms beliefs and that’s not about a healthy self-esteem, it’s narcissism.”

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Students are fully aware of the positive and negative consequences of grade inflation whether it is something as simple as a grade curve or as drastic as a student trying to bargain their way into graduation. However, another smaller issue that arises is the “participation trophy.” When doing something, everyone gets an equal amount of victory. When discussing this topic in class, I realized that many of my peers saw participation trophies and inflated grades as one in the same. Both items apparently trigger narcissism and false hope in children.

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Participation Trophies: The Damage That Is Nearly Impossible to Cure Among Today’s Youth The common ending to a game or event for children, sometimes even adults, is the distribution of a trophy or ribbon to all those who participated. Participation trophies affect an adolescent’s motivation. If a trophy is awarded to those that win and those that lose, then there is no real difference between the winners and losers.

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In today’s society, more and more kids are getting participation trophies for doing nothing except showing up. Yes it is important to teach kids to do their best, but being awarded just for being as good as you already are doesn't give kids the motivation to make themselves even better. Why would they want to improve if they already have that shiny trophy? I do not believe that participation trophies should be handed out like they are.

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Now, before you tell me that school is different. It isn’t. If we can teach our young-athletes that participating is enough to be rewarded, can we not expect the same inside the classroom, or later down the line in the workplace? If your child receives the lowest possible mark on a test, would you want them to be rewarded with stickers on the sheet? I can’t speak for every parent, but I am sure the majority would want their kids to smarten up and work harder at the task.

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