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"Everyone is a winner" - competition is bad?

zipperzap
Does too much praise set kids up to fail?

I keep seeing more and more of this - no dodge ball - no competitive sports in an
increasing number of schools.

Opinions?
[8D]
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Comments

14 comments

Date Votes
  • slipgate
    Absolutely it is bad! If you lose, you lose. Everyone gets a prize means that children will never have an appreciation for anything. The will expect to get everything in life with no effort.

    I forget the movie where the line was, "You know what second place is? The first loser".
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  • Colonel Plink
    Every day, in kids ages 7-27, I see a deeply-ingrained sense of entitlement. Is the whole blame to be laid at the door of "non-competitive sports"? Unlikely, but it isn't helping with these little punks' attitudes.

    If you don't score as many points as the other team, you don't win. you lose. Get used to it.

    Pet peeve of mine.

    Or could ya tell?
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  • 11BravoCrunchie
    quote:Originally posted by slipgate
    Absolutely it is bad! If you lose, you lose. Everyone gets a prize means that children will never have an appreciation for anything. The will expect to get everything in life with no effort.

    I forget the movie where the line was, "You know what second place is? The first loser".


    Talledega Nights. "If you're not first, your last."

    I wish this country would be more like Sparta of Ancient Greece. No one in Spartan society could survive to be an adult unless they survived on their own.
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  • deputydog214
    Yes! Todays teenagers believe everthing should be given to them and not have to work for it and that is their "RIGHT". When they don't get what they want it's throw a tantrum time.
    When it's time for them to be on their own they don't get it because they were brought up and always told "Everybody wins". Life is a competition and you have to work for what you get. It makes me sick to drive by the high schools in my area and see all the new Mustangs, etc. in the student parking lot. The teenagers where I work stand around doing nothing, get mad when told to work, but it is their "Right" to get that paycheck because "Everybody Wins". However the blame is on the parents also. No supervision, discipline, give them what they want, Now get out of my hair upbringing. The schools agenda "Don't rock the boat, Pacify them, No lawsuits, No child left behind, Graduate them, and Push them out the door." Ya think our polititions and such are bad now, wait another 10-15 years when todays teenagers decide it is their "Right" to take office. I could keep going on and on but I'd be here all week.
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  • Colt Super
    I'm in favor of competition throughout life.

    My biggest competitor was always MYSELF.

    A1
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  • Captplaid
    quote:Originally posted by zipperzap
    Does too much praise set kids up to fail?

    I keep seeing more and more of this - no dodge ball - no competitive sports in an
    increasing number of schools.

    Opinions?
    [8D]


    You must live in California.
    0
  • elkoholic
    This trend toward everyone wins drives me nuts. These are the same people who will never tell their kids "no" and they are setting an entire generation up for a lifetime of disappointment.
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  • spasmcreek
    want to see a real sense of entitlement just try to get around a bunch of messicans & their hatch in a store aisle all blathering in espanol... i have started being just as rude in return.... no child left behind, lowering standards so all can get a pass....& then when they fall on their face in the real world good ole welfare picks em all up (have even seen gubment provide a vehicle)... wonder in another 15 years what our country's status in the world will be
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  • Oklahoma223
    Kids are definitely softer than in previous generations. With the invention of ADD, ADHD, and the countless other so-called disorders that are diagnosed daily to excuse the behavior of kids, the "it's not my fault" mentality is ingrained in a large number of the younger generations. To tie in with Zips question, the so-called psychologists that think they know every reason of every humans behavior will tell you that if a child loses or fails in anything it will lead to low self-esteem or insecurity and lack of confidence rather than humility, humbleness, and the realization that "you can't always get what you want". Alot of kids think the world relovles around them.
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  • yawarakai
    Read Robert Heinlein. In a couple of books he refers to this as the crazy years. Funny thing is he wrote them before this even started.
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  • Oren Rudder
    quote:

    I'm in favor of competition throughout life.

    My biggest competitor was always MYSELF.



    This is the right attitude.
    I grew up in the snoze you loose generation
    and it sickens me to see it going on ever day.

    Theves will distroy 5K worth of property for $10 worth of scrap,people ignoring merge signs until the last moment, litter.

    compitition is good within the limits of fair play, and even better when it is with yourself.
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  • Colt Super
    You are a very intelligent person, Oren.

    Ah, yes, "Oar and Rudder".

    A1
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  • Chief Shaway
    I don't buy it either. When my son was in sports at the 5-6 yr old level there was no score being kept. HE knew what the score was though. Even now that he is older, 12, there are some kids on the Football & Basketball teams that don't understand why they don't get to play that much. When they are told that it because they don't work hard in practice, don't know the plays and the like they still don't get it. My son has been taught that if you work hard, good things will happen. Right now he is Co-Captain of his football team even though he is a 7th grader on a 7-8th grade team.
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  • Dakota308
    when i was in elementary school dodgeball wasnt run around throwing the ball last person wins kind of game. you stood in a row against a wall and had the ball beamed at you. if you were the last person standing against said wall it was your turn to throw. and it was equal rights. girls and boys were thrown at equally. and there werent any not in the face rules. while i dont believe it was intentional there were a few shots to the face. hey it was a bunch of 7-11 yr old not exacly hard or accurate. but it still hurt


    and the bull***t part is that even if there are no winners or no score the parents and players still keep score and still pick on the losers for being losers we all know better
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