Selah.

the problem with participation trophies

I’m sure at some point we’ve all gotten one- those plastic, shiny dust collectors that light up our faces momentarily only to later get shoved into some box of odds and ends never to be seen again. Recently I came across some of these old trophies and ribbons and while I had my fair share of 1st, 2nd, 3rd place recognitions, it was the awards with no label..the ones with that word “participation” that were stuck in my mind. You see, growing up my parents were never ones to tell us kids “you were the best ______ out there” or “you’re team was the real winner today”. Sure, they were ALWAYS there with an encouraging word or a piece of advice after every game, but they never gave us false pretenses to think that we were always deserving of a win or prize. We grew up learning from a very early age that there are always going to be winners and there are always going to be losers and we will have our fair share of standing on both sides…but if we wanted to have more opportunities to win, we needed to work harder, play better, and give our best effort in everything we do. And there in lies my problem with the mantra “everyones a winner”. 

  Everyone is not a winner. And in life that truth still stands. To give children a false hope that they will always be awarded or rewarded even if they lose, even if they weren’t the best on the field/court/track or in life, to tell them they are deserving of those shiny pieces of hardware or praising them even when they didn’t give their best it’s just instilling the belief that they never have to be the best to receive the best. The competitive spirit that drives human beings to do incredible things is lacking in these last few generations and I chalk it up to those stinkin participation trophies. When everyone gets an award no one feels the need to do better, to be better, to be the BEST. If everyone gets an award then no one has to stretch themselves, go to their farthest boundary to achieve great things. If everyone gets an award greatness is never an option.