We’ve all seen it and it continues to get worse.
Entitlement is a huge issue in our society and one that many people have tried to come up with ways to combat. Many ideas get tossed around, but there is one that could potentially help to nip it in the bud well before a child becomes an entitled adult. Participation trophies are the new thing, something that I personally believe is nonsense. The idea of “You get a trophy! You get a trophy! You get a trophy!” is completely ludicrous. Rewarding someone for doing absolutely nothing but showing up leads to entitlement. Children are being conditioned to expect to always win without putting in any additional effort because of things like these.
I fully understand the sentiment of "well, what if Child A is not as good as Child B and never receives a trophy?" In my personal opinion, Child B would work harder next time. They will practice or study more to be better in the future so that their name will be the one called to receive the prestigious award. Participation trophies stunt children’s ability to work hard to be their very best. And quite honestly, what’s wrong with someone being better than you at something? I think this is something that will test children and show who will work harder to get what they want or be where they want to be. A good work ethic is something our society (specifically the younger generation, which I myself am unfortunately a part of) suffers greatly from the lack of. If a child is taught that they will always receive a reward for doing nothing, why would they believe they should work harder in the future to get better? Whether we are talking about when they are children or when they are later working adults, I think not giving participation trophies out will benefit our society by producing harder working children and later adults who are searching for real success.
Many parents put their children on sports teams and clubs for many reasons, such as exercise, socializing with other children, and to learn life lessons. What are we teaching children when we give everyone a trophy? We teach him or her that everyone wins and no one loses, providing them with a very harsh reality later down the road. Where it is very important to learn how to be a good winner, I believe its much more important to teach children how to lose. Losing with grace is something that is not instinctive; it is a learned and taught behavior. We shouldn’t reward someone for doing absolutely nothing; real effort should be put in in order to receive honors.
When a child loses, this should be a time of reflection, time to think “How could I be better next time?” This is something participation trophies take away. They take away a person’s ability to realize they did not win that award for being the best or even for their hard work. It takes away good work ethic and in the end leads to entitled children and later entitled adults, who always expect to win and expect recognition.
