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Participation Trophies

Decent Essays

Participation Trophies: Yes or No?
The real world is not easy to anyone. The real world expects us to not only show up for your job but to work hard so can keep your job and your position at work. Sports teach children that in the future they are going to have to work hard, and do their best to be successful so they can support their family. The youth needs to understand that sports are only here to help them learn discipline and structure. The children need to learn that in everyday life, to be successful we are motivated by a reward; when adults go to work at the end of the week they receive a “reward” money. Adults do not realize that participation trophies are not teaching their children how to be successful. The participation rewards give …show more content…

The children need to know that doing their absolute best will benefit them in the long run because they’ll receive a reward for all the hard work and dedication that, they put into the activity or sport. “Participation trophies are sugar coating the fact that children did not win at something” (“To Give or not to give participation trophies”). They should not be rewarded for participating and not coming out on top. We set goals to reach them, and be rewarded, we never get anywhere by just participating and not reaching the goals we set. Sports are about learning from mistakes and bettering yourself; for example, in softball, the athlete gets up to bat and the pitcher throws three strikes in a row and they strike out, but when they get back up to hit again they are going to adjust to the pitcher's speed and get a hit the second time around. Children learn from striking out, because making mistakes better them in the long run. If the children are being handed a reward for just participating, they are not learning from their mistakes. Children are not learning from their mistakes; therefore, they are not correcting their mistakes. This generation is learning bad habits at a young age. Parents are not comprehending that a bad work ethic at a young age will only get worse as they get older. For example, if a child scoots by in school and sports with no structure, …show more content…

They have been blamed for children not working hard to receive a prize for their hard work on the playing field because children know no matter how much effort they put into the sport there will always be a reward. Sports are a great example of earning things for hard work. The children participating in sports need to work hard then be rewarded. “The hard work shows the children how to build a work ethic and it also teaches them that later in life they’ll receive a prize for their hard work” (Jacobi). Building a work ethic is important at a young age, it sculpts the children into the people they are supposed to be in the future. The real world is difficult. Children need to know, they have to work hard and strive for greatness to be successful. The children need to understand that success will help them in the long run. Participation rewards give children a different outlook of the real world. In everyday life, you work hard to pay bills, and to support your family. In your childhood is when you learn that hard work pays off, “It's understood that parents want their children to succeed, and feel as if they won, but children need to learn that in life things have to be earned and not handed to them” (Johnston). Personally, there should always be a winner or a loser, because when you lose you will work harder to win the next time. Competition in all sports

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