How Does Participation Trophies Send A Dangerous Message By Betty Berden

Imagine being a young kid playing on a soccer field, very skilled at the sport, but at the end of the game, every kid goes home with the same trophy. This can make one feel like their work is just as good as everyone else's, when it is in reality much more advanced. In contrast, this makes the other kids happy and gives them a sense of what winning feels like. This is an example of the controversy surrounding awarding trophies to children in the passages “Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message,” by Betty Berden and “Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message,” by Parker Abate. Berden portrays her opinions through appealing to real life and pun, while Abate uses appeal to emotion and comparison.

Dangers of Participation Trophies In the Passage, “Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message” author Betty Berden speaks on his experiences with trophies and how everyone has them now. He goes on to explain that participation trophies are inherently bad in two main ways, such as diminishing the value of trophies earned to players who deserve them and reinforce the idea that everyone is a winner. Betty Berden shares this opinion with many children, parents, and coaches around the world. Trophies should only be awarded to those who earn them.

Trophies for all convey an inaccurate and potentially dangerous life message for kids. It would be pointless if every kid got a reward for something they did not work for, and for kids to just come to games and meets to not do anything and get a reward. It is unfair to the kids that deserve it, but as Berden says, “WE are all winners.” This message is repeated at the end of each sports season, year after year, and is only reinforced by the collection of trophies that continue to pile up. “We begin to expect awards and praise for just showing up to class, practice, after school jobs leaving woefully unprepared is a winner as Berden says.”

To start, trophies are a thing that was brought into this world for people who win a game. sociologist Hilary Levey Friedman says, "That first participation trophy, it does mean something, especially among the younger kids. The children see them more as symbols and remembrances of an experience," participation trophies are for people who earned it, not for people who didn't do anything on their team.

Participation trophies only hurt kids. These trophies have been given out in many sports for decades but they do not mean much to older children. Something as simple as golden painted plastic will not keep a child playing for long after their first years. Children must also be taught how to compete early on. These trophies create a lack of competition in youth athletes and should not be given to children above the age of ten to help teach them life skills and to protect them from struggling in their future lives when they will have to compete for jobs.

In an age where everyone is expected to be recognized, there must be an understanding that the world does not progress by congratulating the “average.” I believe that giving participation trophies makes people stop competing; especially if the trophies are given at a very early age. For example, a team of small children have a terrible baseball season, but it’s okay! Because the coach gives out trophies to everyone. This in turn only teaches the child that no matter how bad life gets, they will always be rewarded. Participation trophies create future generations of entitled adults as seen by today’s generation. We need to reward kids that work hard for what they do for the sake of risk and reward. That is simply how progress is made in society. Yet I agree with one point made by the opposing side. I believe that participation should be recognized sometimes. Participation can teach kids that teamwork matters in every little aspect of society. Participation trophies should be eliminated but participation should still merely just be recognized with a pat on the back as said by Betty Berdan, a high school junior from Connecticut. Participation trophies overall hinder the growing and learning process of kids; whether it is through sports, or any other competitive involvement.

Reason-Rupe poll, 43 percent of Americans believe that every child should receive a trophy for participation, but the numbers drop with income, education, and age. Although participation trophies can cause unrealistic expectations in children, these trophies raise self-esteem and build a work ethic.

In my essay, I will explain why participating in trophies is not only unnecessary but can also be harmful to their development and understanding of real-world competition. Support 1: The first reason why I believe kids should not get participation trophies is that it builds character. In this generation,

Participation trophies are a highly debated topic among childrens sports. Many people beleive it is unessarcary, while others beleive it boosts self-esteem to non-confident young athletes. Participation Trophies should not be handed out because kids will learn that if the just give a little effort towards accomplishing something they will get rewarded.

trophies can make kids grow up to be narcissistic,irresponsible,lazy,and unmotivated. A debate has been going on between parents a while now over kids receiving participation trophies in activities like sports. I beleive that kids should not receive participant trophies.

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There has been a debate on whether you should give your children participation trophies or not. In my opinion I believe that kids need to be told that they did well but not necessarily giving them trophies to represent they did a good job. The focus on giving out trophies every time someone does well will start to become meaningless after a while and then soon they will realize that they didn’t really earn it, it was just an item to make them feel good about participating. When I first started in sports it wasn’t ever about winning, it was about exercising and having fun. I asked my mom if I ever asked about getting any awards or if I got any. She did not remember a time but she did say I was happy just running around and having fun. I’ve seen this in other children to when I refereed them around the age of 4-6 years old playing soccer. Trophies became more of an issue when those children decide to join clubs at ages 6-8. At that point those children wanted to know they did something good to build their confidence and self-esteem. James Harrison (Pittsburg Stealers) a five time pro bowl player says this when he saw the debate on giving out participation trophies, “While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy. I’m sorry I’m not sorry for believing that everything in life should be earned and I’m not about to raise two boys to be men by making them

I got my first trophy when I was in kindergarten when I played rec basketball. I wasn’t outstanding, or even that good. I got a trophy I probably didn’t deserve. When kids know they will automatically get a trophy, then they might not try as hard. If the kids don’t try as hard they will let their team down. Giving out participation trophies is a mistake because it wates money gives kids false sense of achmplishments anddiminishes the value of winning a trophy.

These peoples thoughts are that participation trophies don’t cause any harm. They believe that participation trophies should be given out, not to state that everyone's a winner, but to congratulate young athletes on their time and effort put forth to compete. At the same time, they also believe that there is nothing wrong with celebrating a child’s achievement with a trophy that will make them happy, but not leave a lasting effect on their life (Website #1). However, even though it doe congratulate them for their effort, it also tells them that they will always win. Many people say that these participation trophies won’t leave a lasting impact on a child’s life, but you never know, maybe that one little trophy will cause them to become full of themselfs and narcissistic. All I’m saying is that It’s fine to acknowledge a child’s achievements, but participation trophies don’t do that. They show kids that they don’t need to work hard to

Whether you are swimming back and forth in a pool, running the bases in a baseball diamond, or trying to get the final point in volleyball game, there is a first, second, and third place finisher in every competition. You win some and you lose some; however, placement trophies are a reminder of accomplishment and success. As children start to become adults, winning and losing come in many different styles. Life is a constant competition. You will be competing for a spot in a university, or you will be competing for a job. You are constantly battling with people, as you would with other athletes within the same sport. As you grow up, things will not be handed to you, you must earn them. Kids should be able to learn from their own experiences. Today, enduring a loss is something that not all athletes experience, as young athletes often find themselves getting awards and trophies whether they win or lose. They get awarded for just showing up whether they work hard or not. They need to stop being awarded for only participating in a sport because it will help teach them many life based lessons. We as a society believe that everybody should always feel good, and no one should be left out. Due to coaches handing out trophies as if it is candy, the value of rewards are diminishing. Although giving young athletes a participation trophy will get them involved, it does more harm than good when it comes down to value of success; therefore, not all young athletes should receive trophies.