Should Everyone Get A Prize By Brenda Lasevoli

Of course, participation trophies take away from the true meaning of receiving an award and enjoying the sport. “ ‘Her daughter rarely showed up for her soccer team. She had a terrible attitude,’ Dweck says. In spite of that, ‘at the end she got a giant trophy and would have been devastated had she not’ ” (Turner). Children who put no effort into the sport or activity they have joined still receive an award for being a part of it. This is extremely unfair to those who actually worked hard to make their team successful because it rewards the kids who were barely even engaged in the sport. “We need look no further than the 2011 World Series for the value of earning trophies

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.

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

Do we give children too many trophies? According to Bob cook a sports father of four, “when it comes to participation trophies in my experience kids know the score.” Therefore at the end of the day, a trophy for involvement is a gift, and children are aware. Based on the facts and anecdotal evidence we are not giving children too many trophies. These pieces of plastic are a source of memorabilia. In addition, the trophy does not reflect the kid’s attitude towards hard work.

Therefore, There are many reasons that everyone should not get a trophy. For example, in the article “Should Everyone Get a Trophy?” by Lauren Tarshis she states that “The problem is that people are getting trophies for simple things”(27). Some people are just getting trophies for just showing up. Also Lauren states

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.

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

Participation trophies can lead to an increase in confidence within children, and they also give the child a reason to engage in the activity. The boost in confidence in a child is recommended throughout their young years since the child may feel as if it's not as smart or as talented as the other kids. The reason to engage is also a great thing because children can let out their pent up emotions from being in the classroom. So all in all, children winning participation trophies may actually be a good thing.

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.

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

Participation trophies started in the early 21st century in an attempt to boost kids’ self-confidence. This trend is believed to have started after the “self-esteem craze” in the late 1980’s into the early 1990’s. Schools started to gear their focus toward each child, making sure each and everyone knew how special they were. Movies, such as The Karate Kid and The Bad News Bears, started glorifying the “misfits” and making the popular kids and jocks appear as villains (Ross). It was once this generation of kids grew up to have children of their own that the “every kid deserves a trophy” phase began.

First off, I want to give all the reasons, upfront, for the opposition of this. While some people say that giving kids a participation trophy can boost their confidence, I think that this is actually a negative effect of the trophy. And I think this because the kids then start to believe that they do not need to work as hard because they already received a trophy. And this can lead to over self-confidence. And in addition, the opposition likes to point out that

There are many reasons to prove that we should not give kids trophies. There are so many trophies that kids get that for not doing anything and we need to start giving trophy to kids that are doing stuff and put effort on the things that they

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.