51 North Grandview Avenue
Dubuque, Iowa 52003
9/23/15
School Board
2300 Chaney Road
Dubuque, Iowa 52001 Dear School Board, Why try for anything, when you’re just going to get rewarded anyways? That is an issue in our society that we must address. Participation awards are what I'm talking about. Participation awards should be abolished. My reasons for this initiative are: they give individuals a false perspective, only the winners of events should receive awards, and finally that participation awards have no real value. I will support these three reasons with evidence and show you why my statement is true in the following paragraphs. Participation awards give all people a false perspective. I know this from my own experience. Last year at the end of football season we had an "awards" meeting. Some of us got hustle, most valuable player, and most improved player awards, but if you didn't get one of those you got a participation award. All the kids that got these were happy and excited and felt like they had earned something of value when they actually didn't. Now, don't get me wrong, it's good to see kids participating in these sports, but it hurts to see them so happy when they really didn't accomplish anything of value. A Reason-Rupe poll …show more content…
This is my viewpoint and I gave you three reasons backed up with evidence to show you why. I told you that they give people a false perspective, that only the winners should receive awards, and lastly that they have no real value. I hope that you take these into consideration. Finally I would like to leave you with an excerpt from a quote by James Harrison speaking about participation awards: "I'm sorry I'm not sorry for believing that everything in life should be earned and I'm not about to raise two boys to be men by making them believe that they are entitled to something just because they tried their best...cause sometimes your best is not
Dubuque, Iowa 52003
9/23/15
School Board
2300 Chaney Road
Dubuque, Iowa 52001 Dear School Board, Why try for anything, when you’re just going to get rewarded anyways? That is an issue in our society that we must address. Participation awards are what I'm talking about. Participation awards should be abolished. My reasons for this initiative are: they give individuals a false perspective, only the winners of events should receive awards, and finally that participation awards have no real value. I will support these three reasons with evidence and show you why my statement is true in the following paragraphs. Participation awards give all people a false perspective. I know this from my own experience. Last year at the end of football season we had an "awards" meeting. Some of us got hustle, most valuable player, and most improved player awards, but if you didn't get one of those you got a participation award. All the kids that got these were happy and excited and felt like they had earned something of value when they actually didn't. Now, don't get me wrong, it's good to see kids participating in these sports, but it hurts to see them so happy when they really didn't accomplish anything of value. A Reason-Rupe poll …show more content…
This is my viewpoint and I gave you three reasons backed up with evidence to show you why. I told you that they give people a false perspective, that only the winners should receive awards, and lastly that they have no real value. I hope that you take these into consideration. Finally I would like to leave you with an excerpt from a quote by James Harrison speaking about participation awards: "I'm sorry I'm not sorry for believing that everything in life should be earned and I'm not about to raise two boys to be men by making them believe that they are entitled to something just because they tried their best...cause sometimes your best is not