Participation Awards

[Big Guy]

An NFL player recently returned all of the "participation" trophies that had been given to his sons. His view is that a trophy should be given for exceptional achievement and not just mere showing up and participating.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steelers-linebacker-takes-away-his-sons-participation-trophies_55d0b8fde4b055a6dab09dfd

Those who agree with him state that these participation awards do not properly prepare children for real life where participation is expected.

Those who disagree believe that any award for participation gives a child the self confidence and recognition required for a healthy character formation.

What do you think?

[Black Dog]

Telling kids that just turning up is an achievement worth recognizing is dumb. I'd like to think kids aren't fooled, but given the state of entitlement among the participation generation, I'm not so sure.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Charles Anthony
deleted re-copied Opening Post

[Moonlight Graham]

Telling kids that just turning up is an achievement worth recognizing is dumb. I'd like to think kids aren't fooled, but given the state of entitlement among the participation generation, I'm not so sure.

I agree. I got a participation medal in sports once when I was a kid that everyone got. It was kinda neat because, well, I got a cool looking medal to keep, but it didn't really mean anything special to me. On the other hand, the awards in sports where I won 1st place/championships did mean something to me and I was really proud of those accomplishments. So on a level, kids will know instinctively which awards mean something.

Also, "trying your best" is different than "just showing up", it's not clear what exactly what the award is for.

[cybercoma]

given the state of entitlement among the participation generation, I'm not so sure.

I hate it when people say this about the millennials. There has been no more entitled generation than the baby boomers. They were handed everything on a silver platter and are now trying to roll up the carpet behind them, while still milking the next generation.

[Moonlight Graham]

I also agree with the NFL parent that we need to teach our kids better that achieving is good and failure not good. Trying your best is important, but sometimes it's not good enough.

[Black Dog]

I hate it when people say this about the millennials. There has been no more entitled generation than the baby boomers. They were handed everything on a silver platter and are now trying to roll up the carpet behind them, while still milking the next generation.

I didn't say anything about millennials tho.

[cybercoma]

I'm assuming you mean millennials when you say "the participation generation," considering those awards started in the late 80s, early 90s.

Edited August 19, 2015 by cybercoma

[Black Dog]

I'm assuming you mean millennials when you say "the participation generation," considering those awards started in the late 80s, early 90s.

We got participation awards in elementary school in the early 80s. It's a Gen X thing I think.

[PIK]

This is what liberals want, nobody loses. Then you enter real life and fine out everybody loses at one time of another. It is part of the liberal bubble wrap policies.

Edited August 19, 2015 by PIK

[Michael Hardner]

Then you enter real life and fine out everybody loses at one time of another.

Well, unless you're rich. I think the rich should be taxed competitively... at an Olympic level. But I digress.

This is a fad. Kids aren't stupid, and pretty soon these pointless baubles will go away, replaced with the idea that pursuing self-worth is a lifetime task made up of wins and losses. Revenge of the Nerds isn't anyway to go through life, and I was and am a lifelong nerd so I know.

[bush_cheney2004]

Well, unless you're rich. I think the rich should be taxed competitively... at an Olympic level. But I digress.

No...even the "rich" lose at times. Another layer of liberal bubble wrap disappears.

[Black Dog]

Thinking about this a bit more, and I'm coming around. It all depends on the circumstances of course, but I don't see anything wrong with a token to show you were part of something. the first time I ran a 10K race I got a medal despite not winning a damn thing. But it was a personal achievement and I appreciated having something to show for it. Similarly, when I was a kid and we all got participation ribbons at the track meet, we all knew they weren't as significant as the ones for first place.

Er, so basically, what Moonlight Graham said earlier.

[Big Guy]

When the average youngster sees a military person in dress uniform and see all those medals, they generally assume that the person did a lot of special brave things. If you believe that seeing any combat is a special brave thing then you would agree.

Most of the things you see on these uniforms are participation indicators. If you were at a particular battle or some exercise then you got a participation indicator. I am not sure if this could be argued here under this example or not. My military friends used to call it a walking resume - but understood mainly by other military personnel.

What about all those "outdoor concert" T-shirts - the "I was on the _____ Tour!"?

If nothing else, these participation awards may be important on the 2104 Antiques Road Show.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Big Guy

[cybercoma]

This is what liberals want, nobody loses.

Actually, people want children to be able to make mistakes in a safe place without penalty, so they learn that the experience of trying things is valuable. When you put all the emphasis on winning, then some children will not even try if they think they may not succeed. It's more important at that age that they try and fail in order to learn from their mistakes, than refuse to try at all because they're afraid of failure.

[Michael Hardner]

No...even the "rich" lose at times.

They don't gamble with very high stakes, though, do they ?

[bush_cheney2004]

They don't gamble with very high stakes, though, do they ?

Yes they do.....guess how much an America's Cup racing yacht costs to build and crew ?

[Michael Hardner]

Yes they do.....guess how much an America's Cup racing yacht costs to build and crew ?

A fraction of your net worth.

[bush_cheney2004]

A fraction of your net worth.

I wish that was true.....but happier you can't tax it for participation awards.

[Black Dog]

Read a great piece on this earlier this morning that cemented by 180 turn from my original post. It's worth a look: link. The comments, for once, are worth a read as well. And when I think about it more, I wonder now as an adult how many of the total shitheads I see in the rec sports I play were raised with the attitude that winning is the only thing that matters.

[Rue]

Big Guy your comment about medals and comparing them to participation awards for sports contests seriously has me question your credibility as a Legion member which you made a point of raising in another thread.

You should be well aware as a former soldier that the medals of participation for soldiers are given because they participated in exposing themselves to danger. The very participation acknowledges their placing themselves in a dangerous place or a place that required service to be applauded. ITs not some token participation reward.

You want to put on the same moral level a person who simply engages in a competition to a soldier who necessarily by being at a certain place had to have put his life in danger?

You can't see the difference? You think soldiers are given awards to make them feel good?

Those metals aren't simply for showing up.

Can you just once get real. A participation medal in sports was created so that people would not feel like losers. Period.

Its stupid because the children know its for losers. They don't want them, it embarrasses them. They don't want them

I see zero problem handling them out. Children will continue to laugh at them and throw them out and maybe some will take pride in them and

it will placate some idiots in education administration with their Justin Trudeau like approach to life.

Who cares. Its a non issue. However a soldier who served in a theatre that compromised their life and safety or called on them to do things for others of course they should get such a medal. Those medals remember the event and generate discussion as to what happened there. They say the soldier is a witness. Its a way to call them witnesses so that people like you can go talk to them and learn from them rather than remain so ignorant of why humans have done what they have.

No children play no witness to a significant event having been at a track meet. Such things are in the long run meaningless. True athletes have an inner drive to succeed and no medal increases that. Any athlete who gets off on medals soon learns that if they want to be a hot dog they will get their ass kicked. Individual awards today about sports are simply bargaining chips used to get lucrative sports contracts-they don't mean much else.

Wayne Gretzky won every award there was, so did Bobby Orr, they remain humble to this day. Rocket Richard only cared about the Stanley Cup no other award. All the great athletes put their team first and themselves second which is what soldier medals are about.

Sports medals are not about that they are about individual levels of excellence. Team awards are all that really matters, not individual ones, if you are an athlete. No room full of ribbons means a damn thing if it doesn't connect you to something you did along with your team mates.

Track and field stars in teams have more meaning than those simply doing individual level events. Mr. Bolt from Jamaica said so. Good enough for me. Donovan Bailey said so, good enough for me.

The consistently excellent runners from Ethiopia that win long distance do so to make their village proud-its not about just being an individual.

Participation awards in team sports to me mean a different thing than individual sports. They might mean thanks for being part of the team, so in that sense why not. I differentiate the 2.