Persuasive Essay On Participation

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

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.

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

Elementary students who participate in group sports often receive participation awards at the end of the sports season. James Harrison posted on twitter that he felt participation trophies were wrong, because the child did not actually achieve anything. This post has caused a major controversy across the United States. Some parents agree with Harrison and say that participation trophies create a false sense of achievement, which stops their child from trying hard later on. I, however, disagree. Participation awards help kids feel like they had a part in an activity, reward children from their effort, and can help them strive for success.

Being an athletes is one of the best-paid jobs on Earth. Being that they are paid so much the cost for the consumer is very high. The prices of tickets and sports memorabilia have been steadily rising over the years. The average ticket prices for the NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL all rose 5% to 10% this year, according to Jon Greenberg, executive editor of Team Marketing Report. (Mihoces).

Participation trophies are a way to fool parents into thinking that they are protecting their kids. “It’s affirmation that our kids are as wonderful as we think they are” (Armour). When really all that is being done is postponing the child from experiencing failure. The longer we shield kids from experiencing loss or failure the worse they will react to it when they experience it, but yet parents will try their best to postpone it as long as possible. They want every child to receive the same amount of recognition and complain if their child does not. This not only affects the child, but affects the businesses involving these younger kids. If a business like a basketball camp gives out trophies for different skill building competitions for example, and a child does not receive any rewards. The parent will not send their child back for the fear that not receiving a trophy will ruin their child’s childhood. This can ruin the business’s income and what they can do in their camp based on the number of people that decide to come back

The idea of participation trophies is a highly debated topic. Throughout society, the big question is if

People have acknowledged, “Its through failure and mistakes that we learn the most” (Merryman). A child does not feel the gratitude of a win unless they have lost before. Young children must work hard in order to earn a trophy if they are given the trophy without working they are setting the child up for failure. Studies have proven,“We must focus on the process and progress not results and rewards” (Merryman). Children are easily affected by small things when they are young like a lose that pushed them forward to a victory. If people put children through the process, they will be more prepared for life. If people focus and critique their child when they are young, they will be preparing their child for future obstacles in

In the article “Losing is Good for You”, Ashely Merryman claims that children should not be given awards for something not worth an award such as participation. She states that our youth should not be put under the illusion that winning is as easy as one, two, three. Based on her information, receiving an achievement should be earned instead of given. She stresses the fact that constant praise and awards for possible effortless doings will result in a mindset that believes that putting effort into something will not matter in the end because of the expected praise. With that being said, she believes that constant awarding will lead to underachievement and poor problem-solving skills.

Kids who don't try, participate, and play in sports are given awards. They call them participation trophies, and they should not be allowed to hand them off to kids. To begin, kids in sports should not get trophies in participating because those who don't try are given an award anyway and some kids may think that they will always get one for everything they do. Although some parents may think that everyone should get a trophy, once they grow up they wouldn't be ready for how it is playing sports professionally. When you play professionally, you don't get a participation trophy every time you play a game. If kids at a young age learn now and don't get a trophy every week, their hearts won't be broken later in life. Next, some parents believe

Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Health, United States, 2002. Flegal et. al. JAMA. 2002;288:1723-7. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, 1998.

“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.

Why spend money that is really needed for other things? Why live uncomfortably? Why be trapped in this hole called a home that belongs to another person? Why not live free and peacefully? When a person rents he or she usually throws away money that could be used to purchase something that belongs to them. Money is not easy to come by so why pay out hundreds toward something that is not benefit to the person paying it out. There is no good explanation for making a decision like this. The best option in a situation like this is to buy a house. Buying a house is a better option than renting an apartment.

Having escaped rule from a tyrannical British government, the United States was founded on ideals of freedom and equality for all people. These fantasies of universal egalitarianism turned out to be merely that: fantasies. American history is full of stories of the oppressed struggling to get the rights they deserve and of the controversy over these issues that consequently ensues. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” by Frederick Douglass and “We Shall Overcome” by Lyndon B. Johnson are two speeches made confronting two of these issues. Douglass’s speech, delivered in 1852, condemns the institution of slavery and maintains that slaves are men and are therefore entitled to freedom. Johnson’s speech, on the other hand, was written in 1965 and discussed the civil rights movement. In it, he implored local governments to allow all American citizens, regardless of race, to vote. Despite the significant gap in time between these two addresses, both speakers use similar persuasive techniques, including ethos, pathos, and parallelism, to convince their audience that change needs to be implemented in America.