Raising Children In A 'Participation Trophy' Society

Overall, I support Merryman’s claim that society rewards all participants despite their qualifications to hold the title of a “winner”. Today the term “winner” has become a cliché where people have driven the idea of success to the brink of extinction. Meaning, that society has over produced the idea of a winner to the extent that some other title would have to replace the phrase “Congratulations, you are a winner”. Personally, I believe that Merryman demonstrates the effect that as children are constantly provided trophies, certificates, and other methods of reward, each of these materials tend to tamper with the foundation of the meaning of being a true victor. Merryman states that, “nonstop recognition does not inspire children to succeed. Instead it causes them to under achieve;” with this statement, Merryman shows the key idea that as children

Not everyone is a winner. In the passages, “Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message,” by Betty Berden and, “Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message,” by Parker Abate, this controversy is explored. Berden analyzes the way participation trophies affect not only the child receiving the trophy, but how that would affect them later in life. Abate claims trophies allow children to feel accomplished. But participation trophies are dangerous because the trophies set the children up for a false reality and are not valuable.

In the article “Dangers of an ‘everyone gets a trophy’ culture?” Ashley Merryman interviews thirty seven children to see what they think about participation trophies. One kid, Levey Friedman, said to Ashley Merryman “Well, I kind of purposely played in this esiar one because I knew I would win and now I don’t really count that as a real victory because I went in and I knew it was below my level.” In other words Levey Friedman only played on the lower level sports team to win. One year when I played soccer we only won one out of thirteen games. At the end of the year we got our trophies and awards and now every time I see the soccer trophy it just reminds me of how bad our team was and how bad we did that season. Kids know when a sport is below their level so it's dangerous to think that everyone's a

Finally, kids that are given participation trophies are given the wrong idea. Fifty-seven percent of people said "only winners" deserve to have participation trophies, giving out participation trophies is tantamount to giving kids the wrong praise, and giving kids with bad attitudes and not a care in the world is not a good idea. These kids need to realize that they need

Our society has shifted its beliefs in how we should treat competition in young people. The concept that "everyone receives a trophy" has taken the place of only rewarding those who achieve excellence within that activity. Rewarding all participants in youth activities and sports has become standard practice in American culture. "Should kids get a trophy for participation?" or should only the achievers receive a trophy? In the following essay it will explore the idea that everyone should win from participating and get an achievement for being there.

Merryman voices “A recent study found if parents thought failure was debilitating, their kids adopted that perspective” (Merryman). It is the parent’s job to teach their children how to accept participation awards correctly. That losing is not that bad. Merryman goes on saying “If parents believed overcoming failure and mistakes make you stronger, then their children believed it, too” (Merryman). That statement pressures the idea that whatever the parent’s opinion on the matter is transferred to the kid. That kid will go on to work harder and not need the participation trophies to be an objective. The success of the children depends on the

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.

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,

While many writers claim that participation trophies are beneficial, writer Ashley Merryman agrees with the idea that participation trophies are more destructive than beneficial regarding the learning process of a child. The general argument made by Merryman in her work, “Forget Trophies, Let Kids Know It’s O.K. to Lose,” is that providing

Coming off the last pro where there are a lot of hard-working children. These kids could end up just wanting to find this level of success again and strive to reach it again. Winning something could easily cause a child to want to be in this situation once again. The feeling of achievement can be contagious to these kids everyday lives and can lead to major success for them in their

In light of Jessica Statsky’s book ‘Children need to play, not compete’, she argued that, with the vivid increase of sporting competition lately in the United States, children have been exposed to the adults hard and rigorous training by devoted parents and coaches at their tender age making a game that is supposed to be fun and joy look hectic and strenuous to them due to the standard of training they are made to go through and also the belief that they must always win thereby making them lose the spirit of sportsmanship, and neither gaining satisfaction nor benefiting from them. In as much as sports are good for physical, mental and emotional growth, it should be organized in a manner that the youths will enjoy the game at the end of it rather than the fear of being hurt or defeated by the other competitors.

A new trend across America has risen in sports. Event officials are doling out participation trophies in massive numbers. The question is, are these participation trophies negatively changing the basic American values we treasure in these children? Yes, participation trophies are shaping a new cultural norm of entitlement and it promotes a new attitude of doing nothing, yet still being rewarded for it. This trend must be put to a halt and reversed. Participation trophies are not the answer to making kids feel better about themselves.

Losing is an opportunity that children can use to work harder to win next time. ”(“The Participation Trophy Debate”). Gem Awards corroborates the idea that, if every kid feels as if they are the winner of receiving a trophy, they will not work as hard to improve themselves. This can also play into later in life when it comes to getting jobs and much more, if they never learned to work hard for their goals as a kid they could struggle to achieve their goals as adults.

According to the essay, these events should solely be built with the intention of having fun, learning and being with friends. However, demonstrative parents and coaches are imposing adult standards on children’s sports due to which winning and competition is in the spotlight. Participants are under the pressure to live

Participation trophies are changing kids ideas of winning around the globe in many ways. First off, it gives children the wrong impression on working or putting an effort towards something. Trophies are something you should have to earn. Life doesn’t give you a participation medal, you have to earn it (Website #2). Kids just need to learn that