The awards given to young athletes these days are as meaningless as ever. Merryman agrees in Losing Is Good for You by saying, “Today, participation trophies and prizes are almost a given, as children are constantly assured that they are winners.” Kids are rewarded equally whether they work diligently, attend practice regularly, and play wisely or if they simply show up for the final game. Parents are more worried about their “pride and joy” receiving an award than learning to have a healthy and respectable work ethic and love for the sport. America’s youth is being taught that there is no loser, we are all winners for showing up and doing the best we can. While trying hard is important, it is time we make it clear that others receive flamboyant…show more content… There are many ways to let kids know they are winners, giving them trophies is not the way to show them the importance of being a team player. When kids start to think they deserve a trophy for just coming to practice, this attitude of entitlement worsens and sticks with them their entire life. Something that kids need to take from playing in sports is a healthy work ethic; this will make their life much easier later on. They should also gain a love for the sport and for working hard to achieve their goals, not just for the award they receive. Roxanne Jones wrote about how James Harrison reacted to his kid’s participation awards in her article, Listen Kids, Not Everyone is a Winner. Harrison explained his feelings to Jones and said, "I came home to find out that my boys received two trophies for nothing, participation trophies! While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy.” Harrison is an NFL player, he is a winner and wants his kids to learn what it takes and importance of hard work at a young age. It would also be beneficial if the coaches, the parents, and the organization had a talk with the kids to explain that it is more important and beneficial for them to leave with good ethics than a small…show more content… Jorge Perez, Vice President of youth development at the YMCA, gave kids a trophy for baseball, these kids came back to him with the trophies that they received at a young age when they were young men and shared how important they were to them individually. Their awards represented a sense of accomplishment for them, it signified that they completed something and reminded them of fond memories. Kenneth Barish stated that kids should get trophies for participation. “This is a minority view now,” he says with a laugh, admitting that he’s had too defend the idea within his own family. Many say that this does not bring entitlement in fact, Barish says “he sees no harm in adults encouraging participation with a trophy and he’s found no evidence the practices leads to entitlement among kids”. Also it may strike the interest of many kids to join sports if they know they can get a trophy. While some kids may be extremely talented and go far in their athletic career, others will not and the little participation awards they receive will be all they
