How Participation Trophies Affect Children

value. When I asked Mrs. Norman, a coach at Deridder High School, why she personally felt that participation trophies affect children, she responded, “From experience, I’ve realized that handing out a trophy to children makes them think that they will get rewarded for doing nothing, and that is not how life works at all. You have to put the work in.”If every young player receives a trophy for merely showing up to practice, and playing games, the exceptional players are slighted. The same applies to teams. Regardless of individual effort, or superior skills, all who participate receive the same acknowledgement. This only sets them up for greater failure down the road.

Nowadays, participation trophies send a dangerous life message to children: we are all winners. Kids are never taught the lesson about how everyone loses. They assume that they can go through life being second-rate and achieve what they want. The people who have put in the work to earn their trophies are the ones who succeed in life. These are the same athletes who have felt what it is like to not be a winner all the time. They have turned those losses into motivation. When I asked Bryant Keith what it was like to not receive a trophy after his season of playing football, he responded, “I became one of the most competitive people I know.” Just like my dad says, “you have

This encourages a generation of self-entitlement. To give trophies to everyone would decrease the trophies value. Losing is inevitable, and happens to everyone. Failure creates competitiveness that prepares children for reality. Coaches and parents need to teach their children that losing is just as applicable as winning. By giving trophies to everyone, regardless of outcome in their games, it strips children’s desire to compete and achieve. Working hard and being motivated is what makes children successful, not participation