James Harrison Returns Sons' Participation Trophies

#51
#51
utvolpj said:
There is no difference in your solution and a trophy. It rewards the same action.


The phrase "participation trophy" is so overused these days. Surprised so many have fallen for the marketing since these types of rewards have been around since I was that age. Kid's at such a young age should be taught to simply enjoy the sport and learn how to play it. If for some the trophy increases enjoyment then so be it. Forcing a 5-6yo to take his sport seriously is asinine. I saw a couple of those parents in my son's league last season and it was laugh out loud hilarious
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I can see where you are coming from to an extent.

I guess I don't really have a strong feeling one way or the other. Your case for having the trophies is just as good as Harrison's argument for getting rid of them. Maybe if we gave trophies to math competitions or something academic, I might be able to see your angle more.

In other words, I don't think the problem is the trophy, I think the problem is what we choose to hand out trophies for and what we choose to celebrate. In the grand scheme of life, getting or not getting a participation trophy in soccer or football at 5-6 year will have far less importance in your life than maybe earning some praise by the kids going out and spending the same effort learning how to read and mastering multiplication and division.
 
#52
#52
utvolpj said:
Not at all. I've coached a bunch and mine plays in that age group. Of course if that's what a parent emphasizes then they're going to remember since it's what seems truly important
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As a coach, do you chart stats?
 
#54
#54
utvolpj said:
I think taking away something from a kid that young and telling them they weren't good enough to receive it is detrimental.
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Meh, detrimental (I assume you mean damaging or harmful) is a bit of a stretch. You yourself even said that kids that age probably don't remember who wins or loses games. I don't think if the kid ends up in jail 20 years later that we could point to his dad taking his participation trophy as a catalyst.

I would probably say it is probably trivial or unproductive instead of detrimental.
 
#55
#55
utvolpj said:
There is no difference if everyone gets the same reward for their participation. Still rewarding that mediocrity

There is also little to no teamwork on a field full of 5yo kids
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So are you saying you don't teach teamwork?
 
#56
#56
Weezer said:
I think children participate in sports because they find them fun. They don't need a trophy.
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No one is saying they participate due to the trophy, but at the same time their is nothing wrong with positive reenforcement. Especially for children.
 
#57
#57
Rasputin_Vol said:
Meh, detrimental (I assume you mean damaging or harmful) is a bit of a stretch. You yourself even said that kids that age probably don't remember who wins or loses games. I don't think if the kid ends up in jail 20 years later that we could point to his dad taking his participation trophy as a catalyst.

I would probably say it is probably trivial or unproductive instead of detrimental.
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They may not remember a score but they will remember their dad taking away their award and telling them they weren't good enough for him. Yes I believe that is detrimental to a young child
 
#58
#58
utvolpj said:
Instead they'll think they deserve a banquet for participation. There is no difference

There is also no control over the skill of the team in very young leagues. Pretending more worry and practice could have made the difference is laughable
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Practice never made a difference in young kids? There is no control over the skill of a young team? I disagree. Something puts the top teams at the top other than dumb luck. And let's not pretend that trophies aren't awarded AT the end of season banquet. You know the kids get both and so do I - the reward should BE the banquet.
 
#59
#59
Vol8188 said:
No one is saying they participate due to the trophy, but at the same time their is nothing wrong with positive reenforcement. Especially for children.
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If that is the case, then what kind of "trophy" should we give boys that complete high school and girls that complete high school with no babies? Because both of those are factors in determining poverty (education and teenage births).

In other words, if you feel that strongly about trophies having such a positive influence, then maybe we need to expand on this idea further into things that actually matter... as opposed to sports league trophy for 5-6 year olds.
 
#60
#60
Vol8188 said:
No one is saying they participate due to the trophy, but at the same time their is nothing wrong with positive reenforcement. Especially for children.
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The best positive reinforcement I received in life was positive words from my parents and the look of pride on their faces when I did well. I didn't need a trophy for positive reinforcement.
 
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#61
#61
MphsBlues said:
Practice never made a difference in young kids? There is no control over the skill of a young team? I disagree. Something puts the top teams at the top other than dumb luck. And let's not pretend that trophies aren't awarded AT the end of season banquet. You know the kids get both and so do I - the reward should BE the banquet.
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We're talking about 5-6yo kids. There are no true top teams. This is a different discussion if it's a group of teens
 
#62
#62
utvolpj said:
They may not remember a score but they will remember their dad taking away their award and telling them they weren't good enough for him. Yes I believe that is detrimental to a young child
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Dads (parents in general) deny kids things all the time. No more "detrimental" than taking a kids Halloween candy or Christmas toy.

I think the kid(s) will survive.
 
#63
#63
Rasputin_Vol said:
Dads (parents in general) deny kids things all the time. No more "detrimental" than taking a kids Halloween candy or Christmas toy.

I think the kid(s) will survive.
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Taking away toys and candy ? What the hell are you talking about now?
 
#66
#66
utvolpj said:
Taking away toys and candy ? What the hell are you talking about now?
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Taking things away from kids isn't detrimental. Taking a trophy is tantamount to taking a favorite Christmas toy or taking their candy on Halloween.

I think most reasonable people can easily see the comparison with the situation.
 
#67
#67
GAVol said:
I don't know, but it's probably the Team Mom's fault.
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And from the peanut gallery... how is that not a reasonable comparison?

pj is in here like it is a crime against humanity what Harrison did. yet even he himself said kids at that age don't remember who wins or loses games after they're played.
 
#68
#68
Rasputin_Vol said:
If that is the case, then what kind of "trophy" should we give boys that complete high school and girls that complete high school with no babies? Because both of those are factors in determining poverty (education and teenage births).

In other words, if you feel that strongly about trophies having such a positive influence, then maybe we need to expand on this idea further into things that actually matter... as opposed to sports league trophy for 5-6 year olds.
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We do give them trophies, it's called a diploma. And yes, we do have positive reenforcers in most aspects of life, not just 5-6 year old sports.
 
#69
#69
Rasputin_Vol said:
Taking things away from kids isn't detrimental. Taking a trophy is tantamount to taking a favorite Christmas toy or taking their candy on Halloween.

I think most reasonable people can easily see the comparison with the situation.
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Why would you take away a toy or candy from a kid other than as a punishment?
 
#70
#70
utvolpj said:
They may not remember a score but they will remember their dad taking away their award and telling them they weren't good enough for him. Yes I believe that is detrimental to a young child
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Do your children get everything they want? If not, is that detrimental to them?
 
#71
#71
Rasputin_Vol said:
Taking things away from kids isn't detrimental. Taking a trophy is tantamount to taking a favorite Christmas toy or taking their candy on Halloween.

I think most reasonable people can easily see the comparison with the situation.
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The difference is that you take a toy or candy for them doing something wrong. They are being punished the same way for not doing something wrong.
 
#72
#72
Weezer said:
Do your children get everything they want? If not, is that detrimental to them?
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There's a difference in punishment and telling a child their performance in a sport was not good enough for their father
 
#74
#74
crusse10 said:
The difference is that you take a toy or candy for them doing something wrong. They are being punished the same way for not doing something wrong.
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Exactly. If you want to make a stand, go coach a team and make it clear from the start that there will be no trophies. But don't let everybody get a trophy and then take it away from your kid to make a point that he's not going to understand.
 
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