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sloguy02246 -> Participation Trophies (6/24/2016 2:52:09 PM)
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In yesterday's Chicago Tribune, John Keilman wrote a column entitled, "Speaking out in defense of the participation trophy."
Among his comments:
"The most scorned sentence in the English language these days is, "Everyone gets a trophy." Seriously. Google it and see what comes up.
If we are drowning in a swamp of unearned self-esteem, as some social scientists argue, trophy hating represents the backlash.
Listen to Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison on Instagram:
"I came home to find out that my boys received two trophies for nothing, participation trophies. While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy." The post received nearly 20,000 likes and 4,000 comments many along this line: "He's teaching his kids not to be like the rest of the soft people in America."
A majority of Americans share this view, according to a 2014 poll conducted by the Reason Foundation. And, surprise, surprise, the more money a person earns and the more education he achieves, the more likely he is to think that only winners should get trophies.
When I read stuff like this, my first reaction is that people haven't been paying attention if they think this is new. I got plenty of participation ribbons as a young swimmer 30-some years ago and I don't recall anyone moaning that they would lead to the downfall of Western civilization.
My second reaction is that people who believe participation trophies give children delusions of grandeur must think kids are idiots. Kids understand that such tokens don't indicate how they stack up against their peers.
Participation trophies are a tiny deviation from the norm, a simple recognition of of the time and effort that went into a season. When I give them out, I say a little bit about how each kid contributed to the team, whether through their energy, their skill, or their spirit. There's always something to praise.
Why does something so benign infuriate so many people? I think it's because we're scared that we haven't done enough to prepare our kids for the brutally competitive world we're passing on to them. A participation trophy is seen as a sign of weakness, an indication that they're not tough or talented enough to survive.
This is nonsense, of course.
But if you really think these keepsakes give children a skewed view of life, I advise you to drop by the registration tent of a 5K race and watch what happens when the organizers run out of T-shirts. Grown adults mope and whine about missing out on the souvenir they were supposed to receive before even running the race.
That's not a participation trophy; it's a pre-participation trophy, a clear sign of decline in the American character. Maybe James Harrison should write an Instagram post about that."
(More at www.chicagotribune.com)
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I never received any trophies or ribbons, but my daughter has a few from high school, including participation ribbons. Those ribbons still hang in her room, right beside all the others she earned for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes.
Personally. I don't see the harm in acknowledging a child's participation with some sort of token and I don't think the child is harmed by receiving one. Seems the parents are the only ones creating any significance to the gesture.
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