A personal opinion in favor of the trophy culture system of rewarding children regardless of performance Essay

Should kids receive an award vindicatory for participating? This question has become one of great debate in upstart years fol minusculeing the rise of Trophy Culture, a system where children receive awards disregarding of behaveance and contribute applauded for simply cover up. Many p bents argue that grown children awards even if they do not perform well promotes entitlement and teaches them to not try. My thoughts on the matter were a little bl pole before I did any research on the subject. As person who has participated in track and cross-country for years, I have been a looker to Trophy Culture in numerous of the races Ive competed in. When I was a beginner runner, I r atomic number 18ly if ever placed in races, and was oft prison terms becalm given a bay wreath just for completing the course. Anyone who has taken part in a large-scale public race kindred Race for the Cure or the Disneyland Marathon knows what I am lecture about, basically if you get across the fi nish line even if youre hours behind the first place runner thither will still be someone there putting a medal just about your neck at the end. When I was younger and slower, acquire that medal was exceedingly exciting because I felt like even application 3 miles of running as an overweight 7th grader was a big accomplishment. And the girls who perfect in the top 20 of the races typically got some other medal on top of the participation one, meaning I still had something to strive towards, so lack of motivation was not a problem. And as Ive bighearted and improved in my running skills, the Trophy Culture that is extremely general in the sport of running still does not twainer me. I could argue that getting up at 600 AM either morning over the summer and training my hardest, only to win a half marathon then get the exact same medal as the woman who finished last almost 2 hours after I am disheartening. However, I gestate that the trophies we get for accomplishing things li ke this argon essentially meaningless, and the true reward is the feeling of triumph one gets when finishing something truly challenging.This feeling relates to the existence of self-esteem, or ones overall evaluation of their worth as a person. Doing a awkward task well like performing excellently in a soccer game or acing a test are slipway we can improve our self-esteem and feel better about ourselves. This plays into our moxie of self-efficacy, our belief inability to perform and succeed in tasks presented to us. Some parents moot that trophy culture is artificially inflating their childrens self-esteem and self-efficacy, making children opine they are performing better than they actually are and allowing for them to almost get stuck in a mediocre performance because they have no originator to believe their performance is less than ideal. On the other side of the argument, there are parents who think that if we award children for completing sports seasons or specific event s, we are teaching them that it is worth keeping a commitment, that we value this (Heffernan, 2015).A recent report from Real Sports With Bryant Gumble on HBO explored this problem. In the trailer for the show, he is seen interviewing a woman who says that giving trophies to everyone regardless of performance sets the bar pretty low, and she also makes the argument that she wants kids to improve and be engaged in the march of improvement, and she thinks without incentive this will never happen. This perspective on the discipline is one that made headline news when NFL linebacker James Harrison took to Instagram announcing he would be sending back the trophies his sons, 6 and 8, received until they earn a real trophy(Wallace, 2015). In an article analyzing the different sides of the debate, Kelly Wallace from CNN points out that many experts side with those saying, if you tell a kid theyre wonderful and they believe you, thats not about healthy self-esteem, thats about conceit.Lisa Heffernan, a contributor to NBC News TODAY, disagrees with this mindset. According to her, participation trophies remind kids that they are part of something, and may help build enthusiasm to return for another season. Another point she brings up is that at a time when parents complain of escalating competition in youth sports, trophies remind kids that we value their effort, regardless of ability or results. Her words echo those of a writer by the name of John Kass, whose article in the Chicago Tribune includes a department from his son who claims Whats wrong with a participation trophy for kids? It makes them happy. Theyre just 6 years old. Isnt it good to be a kid, and happy, playing the game? Theyre just kids. Kass then goes on to apologise that this conversation with his son made him realize participation trophies arent as bad as some people want us to believe, and getting a participation trophy as a child didnt make his son any less competitive.After reading articles with o pinions from both sides of the argument, I have come to the conclusion that my initial view of the field of study has not changed I still believe that Trophy Culture is not detrimental to the development of childrens self-esteem and people fighting to end a system that allows awards for participation are wasting their time. Children need boost and support from their parents, coaches, and others to succeed and stay motivated in everything from sports to academics. nerve-wracking to get rid of participation awards could very likely result in discouraged children. Like John Kasss son said in his discussion with his father, Whats wrong with a participation trophy for kids? It makes them happy. If giving participation trophies make kids happy and doesnt harm anyone else, then the reform choice is to allow participation awards to continue in our society.Works CitedHeffernan, Lisa. In Defense of Participation Trophies What TheyTaught My Son. TODAY.com. N.p., 21 Aug. 2015. Web. 29Apr. 20 16.Kass, John. Is Our Trophy Culture qualification Happy Losers?Chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.Wallace, Kelly. Debate Does Sports Participation Deserve aTrophy? CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.