New England Patriots defensive player, James Harrison made headlines when he returned all of his sons participation trophies. While Harrison is proud of his sons and constantly pushes them towards their goals, he wants them to earn the trophies. Instead of being awarded for participation. Harrison doesn’t want his kids to feel entitled to a trophy just because they tried their best and showed up. Trophies given to kids shows that kids don’t need to try and give effort and they will get a trophy anyways.Trophies should only be allowed to teams who win first place because having many trophies increases narcissism and selfishness,devaluation of the trophy, and kids should have to work for their trophy.
Having many trophies increases narcissism and selfishness. For example,In the article, “Losing is good for you”, Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford University says, “But after such praise of their innate abilities, they collapse at the first experience of difficulty.” After kids get praised at doing something good and realizing that they are really
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Dweck also states “A player doesn't have to be the best to get a trophy. But those who receive an award should have to work for it.” These kids need to learn that you can’t earn a trophy for giving little to no effort in their sports activities. These kids need to learn to have effort and work ethic in their activities. In the article, “Losing Is Good For You, author Ashley Merryman states, “In college, those who've grown up receiving endless awards do the requisite work, but don't see the need to do well.In the office, they still believe that attendance is all it takes to get a promotion.” This shows when adults are little and enrolled in youth sports programs with participation trophies, getting rewarded for little effort comes easy to those people. Afterward kids in many youth sport programs nationwide should have to work for their