Persuasive Essay Contest

The thrill of winning a trophy for the first time is always memorable, however, it brings up the question: Is receiving an award for participating just as exciting? Participation awards are a topic highly debated among those of all ages, with none agreeing on a single answer. Individuals who are under the impression that they are essential believe they boost a child’s confidence and self-esteem. This may be true in some cases, but these trophies could be doing more harm than good. Although in the moment they may appear to be wholesome, they have a lasting effect on children as they grow older. Many children put loads of effort into winning awards, which is belittled by participation trophies that are not only unhelpful and unrewarding, but don’t teach them the important values learned by losing.

In “Losing is Good for You,” Ashley Merryman argues that society should stop handing out trophies for participation and instead let your child loose sometimes. Merryman states, “today, participation trophies and prizes are almost a given, as children are constantly assured that they are winners.” She later goes on and says that children who are given so much praise will crack “at the first experience of difficulty.” In her opinion, she does not believe that every child should be given a trophy because it will affect how they handle a different task. She claims that children would be better off losing than winning, and she also think that children should not get a trophy for everything they compete in.

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

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.

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

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.

When kids with Low Self-Esteem get the participation trophies, It can make them feel and believe that, they can’t live up to their own hype. We should stop giving kids the trophies, and instead give them a pat on the back, and say “Good luck next time”. Telling your kid that they are a winner, and a natural, will make them feel like they don’t have to improve, and get

Is giving kids participation trophies beneficial to children, or motivation killers? Many people all around the U.S. have their opinions for both sides of the discussion. James Harrison, linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has weighed in on this topic. In many people’s eyes, his beliefs make a lot of sense, they understand where he’s coming from and what he is speaking about. Carol Dweck also made a statement to NPR about her belief’s on the topic. There are millions of important facts that need to be talked about with this epidemic: an estimated fifty-seven percent said “only winners” should receive a trophy for participation in kids sports, giving out participation trophies is tantamount to giving kids the wrong kind of praise, and this

That is what I think the participation trophies are doing to kids. When I was a kid my dad was always my coach during sports and if we were ever given those trophies he would tell the people that we did not want them. Maybe some kids so not understand the meaning of them but on my team we all did. “Giving everyone a trophy will not prepare them for the real world.” - Ashley Merryman, the co-author of “Nature Shock: New Thinking About Children.” I agree with her 100%. When kids do not try hard in the real world, they will most likely be fired from their job. If they are just given trophies they will not learn that sometimes they have to do more than just show up. There was an Olympic Gold Medalist say “losing was the best thing that ever happened to them, because it made them want to work harder.” Now I do not know who it was that said that but it makes complete sense.There has been some conversation about Kevin Durant just trying to find an easy way to get a trophy. In 2016, Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder and went and played for the best team in the league the Golden State Warriors. I think that is exactly what he did, he did not earn that trophy. Everyone hated what he did because the Warriors beat the Thunder the year before in the playoffs. Earning the trophy is the best feeling ever. When I was a kid when my team would not win a game, it made us want to come out the next game and try even

Rewards for achievement have been around in many different ways and for a long time. In Ancient Greece, around 1699 A.D, the winners of the Olympic games, didn’t received any trophies, but they did receive other items for participating. Some of the awards that they got were laurel wreaths, tripod vase, a bronze shield or a silver cup. In another part of the world, Ancient Rome participants were given money for participating instead of an award. (Wikipedia) The “new” participation trophies that are handed out to young kids in today’s world are said to have started in the early to mid 1980’s. At a time when the universities and child psychologists began to preach that the educational institutions were stifling children's creativity and self-esteem by using authority. Around this time, the first millennials were born. Now, participation trophies are given to a majority of all young

Does frivolously giving trophies to children make them into better adults or take away their will to give their best? Giving trophies out every time a child participates in an activity has just become a way of life; from receiving 12th and 13th place ribbons at field days to receiving participation trophies for tee ball and soccer. Children should have to earn what they receive, and if they lose then the hurt feelings they may have will just help them grow in to well-rounded adults that are able to cope with failure in their future. Giving trophies to children is great for boosting a child’s self-esteem, yet it dilutes the ability to overcome failure; trophies are mass produced and frivolously distributed by adults, but children still know what they have earned and what they have not.

Only the kids who actually win deserve to be recognized for their hard work that paid off in the end. “The benefit isn’t actually winning. The benefit is improving. When you’re constantly giving a kid a trophy for everything they 're doing, you’re saying, ‘I don 't care about improvements’” (Participation trophies reward mediocrity 2). This conveys the idea that when a child is constantly being praised they think they have no more room for improvement and are the best they could be. Although, there is always room for developing as an athlete to become a higher level sportsman. In general, participation trophies hurt kids more than they help them and are ineffective ways to reward kids.

Imagine having a child that whenever they lost at something, they would become somber and throw an enormous tantrum. That kind of behavior is going to happen if participation trophies are passed around due to the theory “everyone is a winner.” News flash! Not everyone is a winner. Juveniles need to be taught at a young age that losing is permitted. If they are not, dreadful things are going to happen. For example, a Stanford psychology professor named Carol Dweck states, “at the end, she got a giant trophy and would have been devastated had she not” (“Should”). Being dismal about not receiving a bogus trophy is fair, but as kids grow up they need to take the loss and learn from it. Inside In Defense of Participation Trophies: Why They Really do Teach the Right Values, Lisa Heffernan explains, “But as my sons grew older, the values these trophies might convey to young children became clearer.”

“Your assignment is to write a persuasive essay and present it to the class in a week. You will be graded based on how convincing it is. Today we will be choosing topics,” announced Mr. Bowerbank, my 7th grade English teacher and ruler of classroom 110. My class simultaneously groaned at the prospect of work. I simply lifted my head with intrigue as it was already May and about time we had our first essay. He then proceeded to give examples of topics we could choose and gave us some time to think before we had to tell him our topic. My classmates were already rushing to tell the teacher their idea lest someone else steal it. That meant the usual abortion, death penalty, or drug use topics were out. I really couldn't think of anything and the teacher was slowly making his way through the remaining students like an executioner beheading criminals in a line. I have always thought that he would make a marvelous supervillain if he had a curly mustache, a tophat, and a cape. Eventually my name was called. I slowly dragged myself over to his desk. Even sitting down, he still seemed to tower over me. “What is your topic Cindy?” As usual in such desperate times, my mind turned to food. “Waffles are better than pancakes.” I figured that a waffle was just a differently shaped pancake with a nicer texture. “Hmm. Excellent topic. I look forward to your essay!” I survived to live yet another day.

There are many reasons why giving each kid a trophy is not a good reason. First off this is not how it works when your get into "adult life" so to say. When you grow up and have to work for the things you want you are not just handed things like trophy's for coming in last. No you will actually have to work for it and if we teach our kids that we don have to work for things and it will just be handed to us then that’s is how they will think how life works. Then they will wonder why they are not successful in life and it will because they are to used to things being handed to them from there childhood.