I’ve watched more of the Olympics that I thought I would. One thing I like about them is there’s only one winner — the top three get medals, but only one wins. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before everyone that participates will be awarded a participation medal. That certainly is the trend with younger children and I’ve noticed that the practice is even spreading to some high schools.
Sports, and other activities, have been awarding trophies, plaques, certificates, etc. for as long as I can remember. No championship is complete without a trophy presentation. An award of this kind is a great way to acknowledge and celebrate victory and achievement. But somewhere along the way something has happened that devalues the impact and and appreciation of receiving these awards.
I think there is a desire to recognize the contributions of everyone that participates in an activity and one way to do that is to increase the number of awards given — even to the point of giving everyone involved an award or trophy just for participating.
Obviously, there are at least two schools of thought on the subject of awards — one side believes that an award is a powerful motivator. Another view is that nonstop recognition doesn’t inspire success. In life, people tend to lose more often than they win, even if they’re really good at something. If you come in last place and get a trophy, then what does that say? It says it’s ok to finish in last place.
Kids today are used to getting rewarded for doing practically nothing. By being rewarded for just participating, they haven’t learned that out in the real world, you don’t get rewarded for trying — even if it’s your best try. You get rewarded for winning or being the best. My thought is that if you don’t come in first, and only get second, it motivates you to try harder next time. Also, if you “lose” you often learn from the mistakes made and that helps you to do better. Any time you make a mistake, you have the chance to learn from it.
All through life you compete with other people — only one person will get that raise or promotion. And who is that? The person who is the best, who produces the best work — not the person who tried the hardest.
I know it’s tough to see kids lose, especially the little ones, but earlier rather than later they must learn that they can’t expect things to be handed to them and they need to learn that if they can’t lose, they shouldn’t play the game.
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