I suspect most people can agree that losing is a part of life. More times than not, no one enjoys losing. There is no participation trophy waiting for you after you lose a loved one. There is no participation trophy waiting for all the Democrats or Republicans after their candidate loses the presidential race. There is no participation trophy waiting for you when you lose a baseball game—oh wait—most likely, there is. Trophies continue to be handed out in activity after activity in today's society, winner or not. If participation trophies become too dominant in every win/lose situation, our nation will soon not recognize the feeling of loss. Losing will turn into a medical condition that needs to be quickly treated with a roll of chocolate
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Participation trophies demolish motivation and the drive to succeed; they do not build self-esteem.
Losing is something we, as a society, learn to deal with at an exceptionally young age. As have I, many people have played a game versus a young child sometime over their lifespan. With the intention to win, just participating in this board game is often not enough for the child. Under those “losing” circumstances, “I want a do-over,” whines out of the child's mouth. The participation trophy concept implies that losing can be taught through lectures and strict enforcement. This means when one decides to beat a child in the game of Candy Land, all he or she has to do is give a short formal lecture on losing—the definition will work—then take out a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies to celebrate their effort and participation in the game. Psychology doctor and professor, Kenneth Barish, teaches a different lesson. Ultimately the ability to deal with loss is not learned from …show more content…
Well, we could blame the coaches or the parents. Or we could place direct blame on the self-esteem movement of the 1980s. Nathaniel Branden, a psychotherapist and author, has written countless books on the power of self-esteem. Branden had a great impact on the self-esteem movement, which is slowly making our country soft. His view on self-esteem suggested that it is the single, most important facet of a person (Mohler). This self-esteem movement commenced the whole participation trophy craze. Anything potentially damaging to kids’ self-esteem was captured. Competitions were frowned upon. Little League coaches stopped keeping points and started handing out trophies to every single player. Criticism was substituted with an ovation, even if it was undeserved. During this self-help movement, parents were advised to overcompensate for their children’s imperfections and give praise. This aided in the phenomenon of the participation trophy, where showing up and doing what was expected of you was suddenly a major life achievement. The trophies have become a staple to many youth leagues across the United States. Children are nearly guaranteed to receive some sort of trophy by many young athletic programs. The president of the largest youth sports franchise in the nation, Brian Sanders, just wants to make each child feel special. Sanders does this by simply giving every single child
Participation trophies demolish motivation and the drive to succeed; they do not build self-esteem.
Losing is something we, as a society, learn to deal with at an exceptionally young age. As have I, many people have played a game versus a young child sometime over their lifespan. With the intention to win, just participating in this board game is often not enough for the child. Under those “losing” circumstances, “I want a do-over,” whines out of the child's mouth. The participation trophy concept implies that losing can be taught through lectures and strict enforcement. This means when one decides to beat a child in the game of Candy Land, all he or she has to do is give a short formal lecture on losing—the definition will work—then take out a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies to celebrate their effort and participation in the game. Psychology doctor and professor, Kenneth Barish, teaches a different lesson. Ultimately the ability to deal with loss is not learned from …show more content…
Well, we could blame the coaches or the parents. Or we could place direct blame on the self-esteem movement of the 1980s. Nathaniel Branden, a psychotherapist and author, has written countless books on the power of self-esteem. Branden had a great impact on the self-esteem movement, which is slowly making our country soft. His view on self-esteem suggested that it is the single, most important facet of a person (Mohler). This self-esteem movement commenced the whole participation trophy craze. Anything potentially damaging to kids’ self-esteem was captured. Competitions were frowned upon. Little League coaches stopped keeping points and started handing out trophies to every single player. Criticism was substituted with an ovation, even if it was undeserved. During this self-help movement, parents were advised to overcompensate for their children’s imperfections and give praise. This aided in the phenomenon of the participation trophy, where showing up and doing what was expected of you was suddenly a major life achievement. The trophies have become a staple to many youth leagues across the United States. Children are nearly guaranteed to receive some sort of trophy by many young athletic programs. The president of the largest youth sports franchise in the nation, Brian Sanders, just wants to make each child feel special. Sanders does this by simply giving every single child