Just Show Up Trophies Essay

If young kids get a trophy for every year that they play a sport and don’t win, they begin to think they are entitled to get a trophy. “Everything in life should be earned”, says James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kids just need to learn that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, that is just how the world works. “They don’t let kids pass classes for just showing up”, says Kurt Warner, former NFL star. The fact is that sometimes your best just is not enough. Life will not give you a trophy for just trying (Website #2).

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 life there is a competition happening for who gets what job, and your best won’t be good enough. You have to fight in order to get praise and awards, otherwise it’s just pointless when someone does a terrible job and yet still receives a trophy. You need to work above your best and go to your excellence to get what you want and not do the minimal work that is necessary in a project. Life is full of wins and losses, and if children aren’t aware of this sooner in life, they aren’t going to be prepared for reality. Jones acknowledges this in her article by saying, “You learn that losing hurts -- even in T-ball - but it is an essential part of living a meaningful

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.

Should everyone get a trophy? I do not think that youth sports athletes should receive participation trophies at all. Many people believe it is worth a buck to give a child a smile but, I do not. I do not think everyone should receive a trophy because it waste good money from the organization. If children just receive trophies for trying their hardest they are not going to try any harder the next year and their best may not be good enough. On the other hand coaches and parents believe that youth athletes should be rewarded for their hard work. Participation trophies are unnecessary because youth athletes play to win not just to receive a trophy they didn’t earn.

On the other hand, parents ages 18 and under believe that their children should get participation trophies, which proves the point that they're going softer on their kids. Kids at a young age need to learn that in life they're gonna get rejected and not take it personally. Rejection is just redirection into the right path. In the article "Do we all deserve gold?" setting up kids to fail " It states how when your teacher pushes you by saying " practice until perfect " it usually pushes the kids the continue to try until they do it the best that they can. This builds character by showing the kids that its okay to not always get it right, but to know that you have to at least try.

The general argument made by Berdan in her work, “Participation Trophies Send A Dangerous Message,” is that participation awards commemorate individuals for everyone being a winner. More specifically, Berdan argues that distributing participation trophies to all participants diminishes the meaning of the first, second, or third place trophy. She writes, “When awards are handed out like candy to every child who participates, they diminish in value.” In this passage, Berdan is suggesting that rewarding children constantly with a trophy decreases the value of the trophy that the actual winners earned. Personally, I agree with Berdan because I agree with the concept that providing children with constant rewards sends a dangerous message later in life. On the other hand, writer Eric Priceman defends his opinion that these continuous awards are a necessary part of the education process for young children and will benefit them to strive for better. More specifically, Priceman argues that there is a difference between an award and a reward; he states that an award is given for achievement while a reward is given for accomplishment. He writes, “Just syntax maybe, but anyone that has ever achieved at the highest level has had to endure multiple levels of accomplishment first.” In this passage, Priceman is suggesting that people who have reached the highest levels of trophies and medals have also been encouraged along the way with things such as participation awards. He describes the action of distributing participation awards similarly to encouraging phrases that motivate an individual to strive for greatness. Despite his argument, I believe Priceman is wrong because rewarding children with a meaningless trophy or certificate provides no benefit for them in their future. More specifically, I

Throughout my high school athletic career, playing both football and running cross country, i’ve witnessed multiple teammates of mine receive scholarships to continue their athletic and academic careers at a university. However due to the disproportionate number of hours spent on the sport rather than academics without receiving compensation is causing many high school athletes to turn down athletic scholarships and instead begin to focus on their academic futures.

How can we expect children to succeed if we constantly lower the standard? It’s only natural for parents to want their children to feel accomplished, but how can children be their best when they’re constantly praised for winning? Importantly, how can children feel the worth of their hard work if other children also earn a medal for just showing up? The “everyone is a winner” mindset fosters an overinflated sense of self-worth and disillusionment. A competitive environment teaches children that hard work and determination lead to success and praise.

It seems that we have an entitlement issue with our young adults; an issue even those young adults wholly admit to. But perhaps nothing betrays this point like the following chart. The Washington Post asked Americans whether kids who participate in youth sports should get trophies just for playing, or only for winning. A strong majority of Americans (57 percent) said only the winners, but then you look at the age breakdown. Though older Americans are overpoweringly in favor of trophies for winners only, those 18-24 favor participation trophies all around. I suppose its best now to make a name on this topic for this generation maybe titled “The Give Everything to for no Work” Generation. Here’s a big kick for you as well, Washington Post also posted a graph that showed those in favor of only preferring winners, also made more money than those that are all for participation trophies. So see everyone, winning really does pay. But it doesn’t just pay, it builds people into strong individuals that know what it’s like to fall down and get right back up. Those in favor for only having winners get trophies make on average 46% more than those in favor of “Everybody’s a Winner”.

Not every player or academic should receive a trophy because failure makes one want to succeed, trophies do not motivate players, and awards are devalued if everyone gets one. Failure makes one want to succeed. As Ashley Merryman states, “If I were a baseball coach, I would announce at the first meeting that there would be only three awards Best Overall, Most Improved, and Best Sportsmanship. Then I’d hand the kids a list of things they’d have to do to earn one of those trophies.”

In the article, Class and Cleats: Community College Student Athletes and Academic Success, Horton first examines the statistics of evidence showing college athletes and their underachievement. There are many instances of concern about college athletes and their poor grades having an affect of their athletic responsibilities, though this belief is usually denied due to a student always being a student before anything else. This study researches the idea of the way that college students and college athletes view success. Many college athletes tend to state that success is passing all courses and being more successful in their sport, rather than academics coming first (Horton, 2009).

High school athletes need to be students, and perhaps more difficult need to balance the social life of a teenager. It is stressful at times, but the stress melts away when you're standing at the top of the podium, realizing that everything you've done for this sport has paid off. And past the podiums and the medals you become even more proud when you're standing on the stage of your university accepting your degree and starting a new chapter of life, ready to take on the world. Athletes know what it means to work hard to become the best, and when it comes time to hang up the sports equipment and move on to the real world, athletes will have the resolve to do what is necessary. Because in the end it’s not going to be about the accolades but instead about the time you put into the things that matter. And when you grow up working hard, and develop that great habit of putting everything you have towards your goals, then reaching out towards then won't seem so

You get last place in your tournament. The coach walks up to you looking disappointed and hands you a trophy. You look down at the trophy confused on how you go it and notice that it reads “participation”, but why hand out a trophy if you didn’t really earn it? A popular issue today is whether or not participation trophies should be given out to young athletes. There isn’t a right or wrong answer to this debate, however I believe that it is wrong for these no good trophies to be handed out. Here are some of the reasons on why I believe this.

Each year, thousands of high school student athletes graduate without ever having left their mark on the community. They breeze through these four years of life as if they’re nothing whether they are playing or sitting on the bench. They receive average grades and never find ways to give back to the community that has allowed them to be in the position that they are today. I have always looked at things from a different perspective. I believe student athletes should be a leader to their peers and in their community.