Pittsburgh Steeler Returns His Kids "Participation" Trophies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People take this way too seriously. I just don't think it has much of an effect on kids, one way or the other.

oh, yes it does. My firm hired a bunch of millennials back in 2007 who thought they were God's gift and demanded to be "appreciated" the moment they showed up to work. They expected a constant stream of praise for contributing nothing. All but a few were laid off by 2008.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People take this way too seriously. I just don't think it has much of an effect on kids, one way or the other.

oh, yes it does. My firm hired a bunch of millennials back in 2007 who thought they were God's gift and demanded to be "appreciated" the moment they showed up to work. They expected a constant stream of praise for contributing nothing. All but a few were laid off by 2008.

I hope that you asked them, before they got laid off, whether any of them ever received participation trophies, and if so, who, how many, and in what. Because otherwise you're just assuming that millennials = participation trophies, and that would be silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People take this way too seriously. I just don't think it has much of an effect on kids, one way or the other.

oh, yes it does. My firm hired a bunch of millennials back in 2007 who thought they were God's gift and demanded to be "appreciated" the moment they showed up to work. They expected a constant stream of praise for contributing nothing. All but a few were laid off by 2008.

So baby boomer.. Blaming your inability to manage on a whole generation.

[Anonymous]

Maybe this fabulous athlete dad could volunteer to coach his kids' teams or sign up to be the manager. That way, he could share his wisdom with everyone throughout the season rather than taking actions or making statements criticizing someone else's way of managing a team. Or he could have his children accept the trophies and then share his views for next season. Just sounds like an ass to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the father is very wise, according to this article ...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2015/03/09/parents-stop-overvaluing-your-kid-you-may-create-a-future-narcissist-study-says/

Actually, I would think that this article says the opposite:

the_article wrote:
“People with high self-esteem think they’re as good as others, whereas narcissists think they’re better than others,”

Seems to me that having your child see that every kid gets the same award gives the message that all kids are equally valued. In my experience, parents who argue against participation trophies do so because they expect that their individual kid will get some kind of more meaningful trophy. If anything, that's the kind of "overvaluing" that the study opposes.

This is so on-point. Narcissists must be exceptional; they come from parents who emphasize the importance of dominating others, being the very best--and they usually aren't overpraised. On the contrary, they're told by their parents that they aren't good enough, that others are losers, that they'll also be losers if they don't achieve some arbitrary level of excellence.

[Anonymous]

Oh come on. The participation trophies my kids have are flimsy cheap things. I'm fine with them having them - they break within a week or so and I can't see how that's going to make them feel entitled in 10+ years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the father is very wise, according to this article ...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2015/03/09/parents-stop-overvaluing-your-kid-you-may-create-a-future-narcissist-study-says/

Actually, I would think that this article says the opposite:

the_article wrote:
“People with high self-esteem think they’re as good as others, whereas narcissists think they’re better than others,”

Seems to me that having your child see that every kid gets the same award gives the message that all kids are equally valued. In my experience, parents who argue against participation trophies do so because they expect that their individual kid will get some kind of more meaningful trophy. If anything, that's the kind of "overvaluing" that the study opposes.

This is so on-point. Narcissists must be exceptional; they come from parents who emphasize the importance of dominating others, being the very best--and they usually aren't overpraised. On the contrary, they're told by their parents that they aren't good enough, that others are losers, that they'll also be losers if they don't achieve some arbitrary level of excellence.

And the people for participation trophies obviously think all kids/people deserve praise and no one should be singled out ever. So when little Joey makes every practice/game and pitches no hitters, he should get the same recognition as the kid who shows up to half the games and whines about being too hot to play and asks to sit on the bench. Your political correctness is pathetic and is ruining kids from hard work, striving to be better, etc.... Bare minimum will get you the same as everyone else, is this generation's motto.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


And the people for participation trophies obviously think all kids/people deserve praise and no one should be singled out ever. So when little Joey makes every practice/game and pitches no hitters, he should get the same recognition as the kid who shows up to half the games and whines about being too hot to play and asks to sit on the bench. Your political correctness is pathetic and is ruining kids from hard work, striving to be better, etc.... Bare minimum will get you the same as everyone else, is this generation's motto.

That's silly. There can be -- and indeed actually are -- other trophies, in addition to participation trophies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


And the people for participation trophies obviously think all kids/people deserve praise and no one should be singled out ever. So when little Joey makes every practice/game and pitches no hitters, he should get the same recognition as the kid who shows up to half the games and whines about being too hot to play and asks to sit on the bench. Your political correctness is pathetic and is ruining kids from hard work, striving to be better, etc.... Bare minimum will get you the same as everyone else, is this generation's motto.

That's silly. There can be -- and indeed actually are -- other trophies, in addition to participation trophies.

Exactly. Anti-participation trophy hysterics have created a ridiculous strawman: that participation trophies prevent individual recognition.

WHy is a participation trophy any different from a varsity letter? Everyone on the team--even the player who sits on the bench all season--gets a letter. Then the coach singles out players as MVPs, unsung heroes, etc. WHy is a participation trophy any different? It's recognition that the child was part of a team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


And the people for participation trophies obviously think all kids/people deserve praise and no one should be singled out ever. So when little Joey makes every practice/game and pitches no hitters, he should get the same recognition as the kid who shows up to half the games and whines about being too hot to play and asks to sit on the bench. Your political correctness is pathetic and is ruining kids from hard work, striving to be better, etc.... Bare minimum will get you the same as everyone else, is this generation's motto.

That's silly. There can be -- and indeed actually are -- other trophies, in addition to participation trophies.

Every team my kids have been on that hands out participation trophies or ribbons does not hand out anything more to anyone or single people out. I don't think kids need these things at all. You should want to play a sport to play, not to get a trophy. I really think these helicopter moms need the participation trophies more than anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


And the people for participation trophies obviously think all kids/people deserve praise and no one should be singled out ever. So when little Joey makes every practice/game and pitches no hitters, he should get the same recognition as the kid who shows up to half the games and whines about being too hot to play and asks to sit on the bench. Your political correctness is pathetic and is ruining kids from hard work, striving to be better, etc.... Bare minimum will get you the same as everyone else, is this generation's motto.

That's silly. There can be -- and indeed actually are -- other trophies, in addition to participation trophies.

Every team my kids have been on that hands out participation trophies or ribbons does not hand out anything more to anyone or single people out. I don't think kids need these things at all. You should want to play a sport to play, not to get a trophy. I really think these helicopter moms need the participation trophies more than anyone else.

So you want to get rid of trophies altogether?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


And the people for participation trophies obviously think all kids/people deserve praise and no one should be singled out ever. So when little Joey makes every practice/game and pitches no hitters, he should get the same recognition as the kid who shows up to half the games and whines about being too hot to play and asks to sit on the bench. Your political correctness is pathetic and is ruining kids from hard work, striving to be better, etc.... Bare minimum will get you the same as everyone else, is this generation's motto.

That's silly. There can be -- and indeed actually are -- other trophies, in addition to participation trophies.

Every team my kids have been on that hands out participation trophies or ribbons does not hand out anything more to anyone or single people out. I don't think kids need these things at all. You should want to play a sport to play, not to get a trophy. I really think these helicopter moms need the participation trophies more than anyone else.

So you want to get rid of trophies altogether?

Mostly, yes. If you are in a tournament and win, then yes each team member there that day that won, gets a trophy or ribbon. Otherwise, no trophies for just showing up. No trophies singling kids out. No trophies if you missed an event that a team won. Kids ages 10 shouldn't have 20 trophies. If you play 2-3 sports a year, it is very easy to have a collection of meaningless junk. Make it count.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He needs to go sit with all the self-congratulatory mommy bloggers.

This!! Participation medals/trophies are the least of our problems with children today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He needs to go sit with all the self-congratulatory mommy bloggers.

This!! Participation medals/trophies are the least of our problems with children today.

Not really. We have lazy kids who expect everything. I think participation trophies are an issue.

[Anonymous]

Stupid and mean spirited. Sounds like an ass. The trophies don't falsely advertise anything. It's no more awardish than a school yearbook.