Everyone gets an award, but is that right? Trophies were once rare things — sterling silver loving cups bought from jewelry stores for truly special occasions. But in the 1960s, they began to be mass-produced, marketed in catalogs to teachers and coaches, and sold in sporting-goods stores. It adds up: trophy and award sales are now an estimated $3 billion-a-year industry in the United States and Canada.
Today, participation trophies and prizes are almost a given, as children are constantly assured that they are winners. In any sport, a kid who participates get an award instead of an exceptional few.
America’s “everyone gets a trophy” syndrome has become a national joke. “A” grades, which once conveyed excellence, are now given to 43 percent of all college students, according to Economixs. Awards and trophies were intended to motivate kids to push themselves past their limits and to be the best.
If everyone get an award, is there any point in trying?
If everyone gets an award, there are no favorites. Everything is equal and everyone is on the same level playing field. Some public schools refuse to allow anyone to get a grade below “C,” so no student will ever fail! It’s just like the Army, where no one can “be left behind on the battlefield.”
Jean M. Twenge, author of The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement. “But the ‘everybody gets a trophy’ mentality basically says that you’re going to get rewarded just for showing up. That won’t build true self-esteem; instead, it builds this empty sense of ‘I’m just fantastic, not because I did anything but just because I’m here.'” Winners are dedicated and work hard. If everyone gets a trophy the winners are no longer special. People that are just there for the trophy are hurting the team and the people who want to win. Those people need to learn now that in the real world it is not equal.
There are winners in life and there are losers. You can’t have winners without losers, otherwise, there’s just people who participate. That is exactly what has happened. People just participate. While giving everyone an award creates a level playing field, it also creates people without drive and motivation because if everyone gets an award, why bother trying?
