Excessive awards create false sense of confidence

As a society, we have gone trophy crazy bestowing trophies on children for almost anything! Even just showing up!

As children attend school, signing up for endless extracurricular activities throughout the year, they need to keep one thing in mind. Even if someone loves baseball or gymnastics, if the program gives endless awards, find another activity that will be challenging.

Trophies were once rare things earned with great effort.  Over time the requirements for earning those trophies began to change. No longer were they awarded based on achievement but soon just participation.  Today participation trophies and prizes are almost always a given as children are constantly assured they’re winners.

It adds up! Trophy and award sales are now an estimated three billion a-year industry in the US and Canada (fact from The New York Times.) According to the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, JDS Industries, one of the nation’s largest trophy wholesalers, reported sales of more than $50 million per year. 

Kids who receive trophies early in life receive a message that if they do good work and put their best foot forward they will be rewarded for their efforts. Then the child will mature with the unknown thought of failure. Kids should gain trophies for excellence and hard work for being the best they can be. Yet if everyone gains one despite their measure of hard work and talent, what’s the point?

Self confidence is a big problem affecting society currently. Awarding the future leaders of America can give them a big confidence boost, but will it prepare them for the world’s harsh reality?

Childlike innocence will be demolished when children mature and realize they don’t get a reward for waking up and going to work in the morning. Giving trophies out like water make them unimportant when someone receives one they legitimately deserve.

Our ‘trophy culture’ is making this world’s future adults happy losers. There are no points for second place in adulthood. So why let children think there are? Every parent wants their kids to be happy. There’s nothing wrong with that. But parents are among the biggest culprits when it comes to giving kids an inflated sense of self-worth.

Parents and coaches today feel obligated to heap praise on children, no matter if they deserve it or not. No matter if they hit a home run or made the error that lost the game for their team. That is, if they even keep score at all.

Lets save the drama for mama and stop joining groups that give out trophies like Pez candy.