Now more than ever before parents believe that their kid is special. Their kid is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Their kid is a winner. Their kid is the best. While of course, all parents should believe in and take pride in their children, not all of them are winners. Sometimes, you can't get everything you want, and sometimes life is unfair. To protect their kids from this cruel world of reality, these parents establish the idea that "everyone is a winner." Everyone deserves a spot on the team or a part in the play. Apparently, there is no such thing as last place, and everyone gets a trophy for simply trying.
I'm sorry but no. This is not how the world works and people need to recognize that. There are winners and there are losers. There are good days and there are bad days. Not everyone is going to make the team, be the best, or win the game. Hard work, dedication, and maximum effort which in turn yields a positive result should be awarded, not the fact that you simply showed up. Showing up doesn't count for anything. It's what you do with your time there that counts. It hurts when you don't make the team, I recognize that. But that should be an incentive to work harder and make it next year, not to give up and demand a spot because it's your right to be there. You earn your right to be there, it's not just given.
Michael Jordan didn't make his high school basketball team, Walt Disney was fired from a local newspaper because he "lacked imagination", and Oprah was fired from her job as a nighttime news anchor because she "couldn't control her emotions." There are so many extremely successful people that were told they weren't good enough. Did these people give up and cry? No, they absolutely did not. Quite honestly, they probably wouldn't be where they are today without the push of the people who told them they weren't good enough.
Today, everyone gets a spot on the team because they wanted to play. You can't have costume contests on Halloween because some children will be upset they didn't win. The kid who plays summer baseball and only played one game because he was on vacation for two months gets a trophy because he signed up. The mindset of today's parents, and now kids, is despicable. It creates a sense of entitlement, and will lead to rude awakenings down the road. These kids are growing up with the idea that they are owed something, rather than the fact that they have to earn something.
Sometimes, you're not going to be the lead in the play or starting point guard. It happens, and that's reality. Growing up knowing this truth will benefit a person much more than being sheltered from it.
Sorry, but you don't deserve that participation trophy.
