Ashley Merryman Losing Is Good For You Analysis

There are many that work extremely hard and put a lot of dedication into what they do, then they just get the same recognition as all the others. Through Berden’s use of the appeal of real life, she describes how kids can be so skilled and get the same recognition as any other player when she claims, “We begin to expect rewards and praise for just showing up.” It is explained that as kids get older, the treatment they receive as kids lingers and they will expect to be handed things when they are not earned. Significantly, this plays a crucial role in a child's life because it could lead to them not working hard in a job or school, and they could end up failing. Furthermore, Berden uses a pun in her attempts to explain her opinion.

As children who have received participation awards begin to grow older, they are introduced to more and more situations in which not everyone is a winner. A person who has been a winner all their life will eventually lose, and it will affect them more seriously because they have not had experience dealing with failure at an early age. According to the article “Failure is an Option: Raising Children in a ‘Participation Trophy’ Society” in Scouting Magazine, Dr. Tim Elmore believes failure is like a coach, teaching kids to try their best. Elmore argues that participation trophies take away the positive effects of losing, and children grow up lacking motivation and become wary of testing their abilities due to fear of failure. This leads to children being more emotionally fragile than they should be, which may eventually result in serious matters such as depression and even suicide. Participation awards treat everyone like a winner, which means children do not learn how to cope with loss. Kids that don’t experience dealing with failure end up being afraid of it, and this constant fear contributes to psychological problems such as stress, anxiety, and depression. For example, if a child were to

Ashley Merryman, co-author of “Nature Shock,” (NY Times, Oct. 6, 2016) in “Forget Trophies, Let Kids Know It’s O.K. to Lose” argues that there is nothing wrong with losing because failure can actually be helpful. I passionately agree with this.

Participation trophies have created many issues on the effects it causes a child in the future. The issues relate to wanting the child to have a nice life, but also wanting them to learn the values and morals that are needed to succeed in this world. In both essays, they want the child to have everything they never had, but most importantly to obtain the grits and tools that will allow them be successful and independent. Participation trophies have caused two major controversies between wanting to teach a child about success and failure to make them work hard, or teaching them about self-esteem and commitment to allow them to work as a team with skills and protocols.

Parents want to see their children succeed in life and surpass what they have ever done. To reach the goals parents want for their children, a child must know that they will not always win or succeed. Ashley Merryman is the co-author of "NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children" and "Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing." and she has stated, “If children always receive a trophy – regardless of effort or achievement – we’re teaching kids that

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

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

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

The author is writing this article to tell Americans that most schools give out awards for just showing up and avoiding the problem of having parents complain because their child did not receive an award. He thinks that it is ridiculous. He’s writing to the audience of school children and their parents. He tries to persuade his audience by explaining that trophies are better earned than given. It will promote higher self-esteem. Yes, I do agree with the author’s point of view for a few reasons. If a student earns good grades and the whole class gets an award they will feel that no matter what their grades are they can receive an award. So, they will stop earning good grades. In order to receive an award you should have to put in hard work and

Lampley, Frederick English 1A November 2, 2015 Mr. Buonadonna The “Me Generation” The speech, “You’re Not Special” given by David McCullough to Wellesley High School graduates, criticized their generation for epitomizing the “Me Generation”. The speaker warns the graduates about superficial behaviors and characteristics that are more evident than in prior generations. Regrettably, McCullough correctly argues that the “Me Generation” exhibits attitudes that if continued could weaken a generation, including: viewing themselves as more special than everyone else; believing that accolades are more meaningful than genuine achievement; and that self-centeredness is an appropriate virtue.

In America, we have shifted our beliefs on participation trophies. Nowadays, everyone and anyone receives trophies and awards solely for showing up. There is a dramatic split in in our nation as to whether or not participation trophies should be given out among young children. Many argue that giving children these trophies will make them grow up to be lazy and entitled, others say children are too young for the idea that somebody is better than them. I believe that children should receive participation awards, because it teaches kids that having fun is more important than winning, at a young age, children shouldn't be taught that some of their peers are better than them, and contrary to popular belief, I don't believe that participation awards lead to lazy and entitled kids.

The notion of participation awards in childhood activities have raised a spark debate; while awarding each child with a uniform trophy supports equality, what’s there to say about the detrimental effect on motivation if everyone is labeled a winner? The expectation of an award or certificate, in conclusion to any activity, is viewed as a guarantee; often, they serve as the sole motivation point for those uninterested in the activity itself as they’re aware they’ll be a winner regardless. This inflated sense of self-worth brought upon by miniscule awards, most especially participation, leaves children unprepared for adult life as a functioning member of society. While generous in thought, participation awards support a distorted view of reality

Losing, no one wants to lose no matter what they are doing. If a kid loses then they want to get better and then get the prize but if a kid gets a trophy for no reason then they think that they don’t have to try harder and then faces difficulties in life that they don’t understand. “My children look forward to their trophy as much as playing the game.” (Jean Twenge) if kids think that the trophy has the same amount of importance as the game they shouldn’t play at all.

Many people have said that handing out participation trophies to children is good, because children will be able to receive for all of their effort. To some people “The cold, hard, gold plated truth just might be that awards for worthy deeds actually encourage children --and grown ups-- to try harder, and take pride in their own abilities, and do the right thing...And I don’t see how that can be wrong” (Today). Although trophies may help encourage children and adults to believe in their abilities, but children should be taught that trophies do not mean everything, even though children may receive an excessive amount of “trophies” they don’t tell the truth. Children should only receive trophies when “The moment of pride comes out of performing

    In today’s society, children think they need to be awarded for participating in events. Participation awards do not always teach children the lessons they need to learn. Participation awards can always be great, but it is not teaching the children the lessons we want them to learn. “We must focus on process and progress, not results and rewards,” (Merryman). The awards affect how the children will act later in their life. Children will always participate if it meant they would receive an award.