What Makes A Survey?

Children learn the most through trial and error. Ashley Merryman agrees, saying, “It’s through failure and mistakes that we learn the most” (Merryman). As a famous author about child psychology Merryman uses a philosophical position to convey to the audience about the importance of letting children lose to help them grow and become better people. She also states that “we’re teaching kids that losing is so terrible that we can never let it happen” (Merryman). She continues that this destructive message is teaching kids react more towards losing instead of celebrating their success. Also that it is not okay to lose. Kids should know that not receiving participation trophies is okay, and that it helps them do better.

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

“Sending him home empty-handed at the end of a hard-fought season won’t help him learn the lesson of losing, it will teach him early that there’s no value in the attempt” (Zadrozny). Prizes such as trophies and ribbons are a controversial topic in society. Some believe that not enough are handed out to children while others believe that too many are handed out. Trophies are a symbol of victory and triumph, but do not forget that children just want to feel part of a team even though they are not good enough. Putting forth an honest effort is important, and doing well is the habit on which they will be repeatedly evaluated in life. Even though some believe trophies are not good, they give a boost of confidence while keeping children happy and

And for my last point, I would like to mention that trophies should be for those who win. And I do not mean this negatively, but as in that a trophy’s main purpose should be to distinguish some who has outperformed others in a competition. As well, I would like to quote the Oxford Dictionary, as in its definition, it says a trophy is “a prize for a victory or success.” And I would like to argue that participating in an event does not qualify as a victory or success, and this, overall dilutes the idea of giving a trophy to a victor, because it does not mean that they are any different than someone who did not

Participation trophies teach kids bad life lessons. They introduce the wrong idea at a young age that you can just show up and still be rewarded for minimal effort. If someone joins a sport they are expected to try their best and should be rewarded for doing so. When they are not then there is no point in even participating. Kurt Warner was quoted saying ‘ “ They don’t let kids pass classes 4 just showing up ” ‘ (Wallace). later in life people aren’t rewarded for showing up, and teaching something that is not true at such

Again, this is something this generation feels that we should have trophies. We are known as the millennials and we are entitled to everything, which this isn't a lie. The younger generation thinks that we should have a participation trophy for everything that we've done. This could be in sports like basketball, or an extracurricular activity like quiz bowl. For coming in last place and didn't attempt your best, do you still want that participation trophy? Since majority of the people think they deserve a participation trophy, that's what they get. Money just goes to waste into buying these small trophies for kids who think they deserved that medal. The money could be used for so much more, but instead we just give it away. “As in sports as well as life, it is a fact that there’s room for only a select few on the winners’ podium,” Betty said. This is a great life lesson too, not just in sports, but in other events you do in

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.

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.

Do you think we have gone trophy crazy as a society? Lucas a sixth grader agrees. He complains about his trophies saying he has no room to put anything, he has even resorted to using a trophy as a door stop. Sport league owners want to give every child in their league like Lucas a trophy, but sports pros differ with that, knowing failure is one very important part of their success. So we should only award the best, because it is ineffective to keep kids coming, we are sending the wrong message.

To start, a championship game does not need a winner. The traditional idea of winner does not make somebody who they are in life. Unlike those traditional views a winner is inside everybody, if they can feel good about

For many kids around the world, childhood sports are a cherished and blossom lasting friendships. Some kids choose to participate and others just sign their children up. Recently, “The Great Trophy Debate” has sparked a question of whether or not all participants should receive trophies or not. Currently, many sport organizations have taken about traditional trophies and substituted participation trophies for all. O’Sullivan argues that participation trophies are not really trophies because the more trophies given out, the less worth each will have.

“Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement” according to McCullough. Creating something useful or doing something great or distinctive that actually impacts people, such as discovering a cure for cancer or even doing community service to help others and earning recognition is achievement. However, giving trophies to all members of the losing teams sends the wrong message about achievement.

“Winning a trophy merely collects 5 minutes of pride and a shelf life of dust. But giving 100% and finishing what I started collects a lifetime of irreplaceable confidence in myself.”(anonymous) Even though trophies can encourage players, many believe that a show of appreciation from a coach should mean more. Not all kids should get trophies because trophies lose their meaning if everyone is getting one and a show of appreciation from a coach should mean more.

On the flipped side, who wants to be a loser? Losing can be upsetting, and nobody enjoys doing it. Yes, the only real way to rid of losing, is to rid of winning as well. Then that leaves what? Participants? That takes the pride away from the winner, and gives the loser no motivation to get better. Losing may not be very enjoyable, but may people would say the same thing of tying. Winning and losing are just part of life. When you lose it makes you strive to get better. In many youth sports, parents try to bring this, no winners system. Understandable right? Nobody wants to see their kids sad, and that is respectable. People also though, want to see their kids succeed. How is being a participant succeeding? It’s just a title given to anybody who decides to show up. Anybody can be a participant, which is why nobody wants to be one. Not everybody can be a winner. Being a winner is something you can be proud of.

If a survey was made asking every person in the world whether they would rather lose or win, a resounding number of people would not think twice about it. They would pick winning over losing every time. Why would they not? Winning has many benefits: the feeling of beating a rival is full of enjoyment and pleasure; it also makes you feel great because you exceeded at something and beat it; winning also makes a person feel more powerful as if they can accomplish anything. Overall winning seems to be far greater than losing; however, there are many greater benefits in losing. To start, losing is far better for a person than winning; it makes a person stronger and makes the fight harder for the times ahead; after losing time and time again, when you finally get that win it feels so much sweeter; lastly there are far greater things than just winning.