Sunday, August 8, 2010

Something to think about Sunday ~ Medals and Trophies ~ Opinions WANTED!

I don't usually ask many questions of my readers, but today I have one for you.

It seems our country has evolved into an "everyone's a winner" society. 

I'm talking mainly about kid sports. 

See, I have a friend who was a coach for a 1st and 2nd graders soccer team.  They DIDN'T win one game during the season, yet at the end she had trophies to hand out to each of her kids.

And Sassy's softball league.  Well, they decided to split the 8U division into A and B groups ~ 6 teams in A, 6 teams in B.  Why?  So there would be double the amount of Gold, Silver and Bronze medalists and of course, EVERYONE would receive a medal just for participation. 

Really?

Is this necessary. 

Do our kids REALLY NEED these medals and trophies? 

Do they need to be rewarded just for signing up?

Or, would NOT receiving them make them want it more the next year.  Perhaps a little goal setting and a little extra effort put forth (you know, maybe wanting to play catch or kick the ball with someone instead of sitting in front of the TV or some sort of video game). 

What do you think? 

Should kids always get medals and trophies regardless of the season outcome or are we just promoting a "we are all winners and there are no losers" mentality?  Is this a bad mentality?

Help me out,

WHAT DO YOU THINK?





3 comments:

alicia said...

Frankly, I think its crazy that we reward kids for every little thing they do. We need to give them goals to reach for and learn that sometimes we don't make that goal and need to try harder.

I'm also mean and don't pay my kids for doing chores that they are expected to do...my hubby is quick to say the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the bed you sleep in, you're welcome. :)

Happy Mom said...

I am not a fan of the award for everything. I believe if you work hard you should get something extra for that hard work. Instead, we seem to be having a culture of sit and give me what I deserve.

It is hard with young kids. You do not want to discourage them to the point they do not want to do things because they are not the best. If you find the right balance, let me know!

I read one time that you should not tell your child over and over how special they are because they will begin to think of themselves as better than others. Instead, you tell your child over and over again how much you love them - which tells them they are special to you.

Unknown said...

I totally agree that an award should not be given for just showing up. It reminds me of a movie coming out "Waiting for Superman". There are measurements regarding student performance (math,science,reading,etc) as compared to the world - we are falling behind and guess where our students are WAY up? Confidence. Hmm, we are very confident but about what? Makes you wonder about how awards for anything play into this?