How Do Participation Trophys Cause People To Underachieve?

Will is a 4th grader, who loves playing basketball, but he knows that he isn't good at it. Ever since he was a little boy, his parents kept telling him that he was good at basketball, but their encouragement didn't mean it was the truth. He had collected lots of trophies over the years; participation trophies. He only had them because he participated and showed up at the games. He knew he wasn’t helping his team and realized the trophies had no real value to them because everyone got them. Participation trophies started becoming abundantly produced during the 1960’s and were used to boost self-esteem of inner city youth. After this, participation trophies started becoming more and more popular, spreading like wildfire. These trophies then became
First, Merryman claims that, “when living rooms are filled with participation trophies its part of a larger cultural message: to succeed, you just have to show up.” This is exactly what many think. If children just are given trophies for a certain period of time, they will soon understand that they are going to get the trophies no matter what. This will cause them to underachieve. They will not try hard. In Article 1, Tarshis believes that kids are getting the amiss message by stating, “In life, most people are not rewarded for simply doing what’s required. A student doesn’t get an A just for going to class. An employee doesn't get a raise just for arriving to work on time.” So why do kids get trophies even though they are not among the best of their teams? Think about it, if a student got an A just for showing up at class, would they work hard? Exactly. No, they wouldn’t give their fullest because they know they are going to get a good grade. Similarly, kids do not give their fullest. They think even if they don’t do well, they will still receive a trophy for participating. In all, kids get the misconception that it is okay to underachieve because they are still getting some form of a