Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I wish the article gave the ages of the kids. Participation trophies ended by 2nd grade at the latest for the sports my kids were in.
I know they didn't carry much meaning for them once they began actually earning trophies, but at the time they got them, they were thrilled, and maybe it even encouraged them to keep on playing. The children of a pro may not need that extra push to play, but is there really anything wrong for the average child just starting out in organized sports?
My boys have a bunch of participation medals. They really value to trophies and medals when they won something. They have never received a participation trophy, just medals. They do have most of them still hanging on a wall.
My boys loved getting the medals at first, now they are less meaningful.
I really hate giving medals and trophies merely for participation. A certificate is perfectly acceptable for that. But trophies should be for the winners, only.
So, good on that NFL player. He didn't get where he is by collecting medals just for showing up, and I'm glad that he wants to impart that same lesson to his sons.
What a great father, teaching his kids important life lessons early in the game of life that one must work to achieve something, not "you are all winners!" type of mentality that permeates our society today.
I agree in principle. I don't think everything deserves a reward. The only part I would be careful with is, "sometimes your best is not enough". It's ok to say your best wasn't enough to win, but as a parent all I can expect from my child (and myself) is for him to try his best. I wouldn't want the child to only hear, "You tried your best and that wasn't good enough".
Good for him. I was just talking about this with my husband ands was telling him that I would be super annoyed because those trophies aren't cheap. My (public) school is always saying they're short of money, so this to me isn't a good use of money.
My son took his and hid them in a drawer. He certainly took no pride in awards for being a warm body.
Oddly enough, we never talked to him about that... he figured it out on his own.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
