I went to my cousins sports day last week, he’s 8. He won 4/4 races but rather than give out different coloured ribbons to signal 1st, 2nd and 3rd, EVERYONE got a red ribbon for taking part.

I wildly disagree with the sentiment but intrigued to see what others may think

44 comments

  1. It’s dumb. Kids gonna go home, play some Fortnite, then get his ass handed to him and come in last place. Kids know what place they came in. No need to pamper them.

  2. As the kid that placed backed in the day with children going through the same thing, it’s not high on the list to be honest. Me and my kids are just happy to be playing outside with their friends. Now if they were in competitive leagues that we pay for with potential scholarships and opportunities on the line. I’d have an issue.

  3. I don’t agree with it either. The more we shelter kids like this, the less prepared they will be for real life.

    Kids need to be taught the reality that results matter, and results are a combination of hard work, training, preparation, desire and determination, etc. Its not just in sports, it’s a general important lesson that applies to many things, such as career, business, or nearly any meaningful life goal.

    These kids will be up for a big shock when they don’t succeed in their careers or other life goals simply by showing up.

  4. As a dad of 2, I personally don’t care. You better believe we’re going out for ice cream as a family afterwards, and I’ll heap praise on my girls for their accomplishments. But the school acknowledging it doesn’t make a difference. Especially if it’s like my school growing up that required everyone to get involved, it seems borderline cruel to rub it in the faces of the non-athletic kids or the apathetic kids who might excel at something non-sports related.

  5. I think it’s a well-intentioned but ultimately counterproductive idea. I also think it’s genuinely rare for this to happen in schools.

    I understand that losing feels bad as a kid. But I don’t think schools should prioritise kids never feeling any negative emotion of any kind. Sometimes, things happen that make you feel bad, but that doesn’t make them bad or wrong. Not everything that hurts your feelings is done to hurt your feelings. Sometimes, it’s OK to feel bad about something, and that feeling is something you have to work out yourself, rather than something others have to change to accommodate.

    It’s a teachable moment. In the real world, you aren’t all going to be equally valued. Those who have exceptional talent will be praised for it, and those without won’t be. In the real world, you will fail, and struggle, and all the while you’ll see others succeeding. And you need to be able to handle that.

    I’d also be quite annoyed if I was the parent of the kid who won, because you’ve essentially stolen their achievement from them.

  7. I think schools should be purely academic environments. Sport is an entirely different thing. Children should not be encouraged to compete with each other. It creates problems later in life.

  8. I agree for the most part. But 8 years old seems a little young to be worried about first places on a sports day. And some of that ‘everybody wins’ shit is prolly driven by crazy parents who take it way too seriously….like little league baseball parents.

  9. It is all because of the parents. Kids know who won and lost, but they have to hand out participation trophies so that the parents don’t go crazy, kids hate them.

  10. While it’s nice to teach kids that winning isn’t everything, it is … something.

    They want to give everyone a ribbon, great. The ones who came in first did accomplish something, however, and that accomplishment should be acknowledged.

  11. It’s fucking stupid. Childhood is for preparing children for being adults. They will not be shielded from competition in adulthood. Best to prepare them for it before they are smashed in the face with it in adulthood.

    You’re not raising children. You are raising adults.

  12. It’s trying to combat an issue with bullying or parents who go after their children for not being good enough, but going after it in the wrong way, and it’s more complicated than duh just stop them from bullying, etc.

    Now, I don’t really care, I don’t think it matters, and people acting like the downfall of society is because of participation awards are just brain melted. Sure, your kid got a free ribbon, they’ll survive, don’t cry about it.

  13. Nature is hierarchical.
    Doing this will create a generation of softies that aren’t prepared for the reality of life.

  14. This is the same thinking as a 4 year old proclaiming he is a ‘Ninja’ while wearing a Batman shirt…just not based in reality.

  15. It’s stupid, to say the least. Some kids are better in sports, some other kids are better in math or sciences or in, say, music or painting.
    Acknowledging participation is great, but the ones that put in more effort should get recognition too.

  16. It’s just dumb, school is supposed to prepare for real life and there are no participation trophies in adult life.

  17. It’s ridiculous. You can’t insulate children from the concepts of success and failure, and then throw them into a capitalist world where they need to compete for everything.

  18. I’m in very good physical shape as an adult, and think being in good shape is a very important thing at all ages. That being said sports are dumb. Fitness should be about beating yourself not trying to beat others. Sports like track are much more based then any of the ball based sports, which I have absolutely no time for and think are an absolute waste of time and money. So I don’t try to get in arguments about this sort of thing, cause it’s not worth it. I was in a few sports as a kid and I started off bad, I got a lot of participation trophies. I threw them all out because I didn’t deserve them. I got good in HS and got many first place trophies. I threw them all out because trophies are for people who would rather reminisce about past successes then continue to be awesome. IMHO

  19. Helicopter moms have taken over. The kids know who wins and loses.

    It like the mark primping in schools. An over-80 average today is the same academic level as a 60 forty years ago. The graduates are not geniuses today and the over 90 kids are working the tests not getting smarter.

    It makes the mommies happily though.

  20. i strongly believe you absolutely shouldnt teach kids they get rewards for mediocrity. if a kid is over the age of like 5 its time to start teaching them you dont get what you want. you get what you earn. kids need to know theyre failures so they can learn the apropriate coping/improving methods, otherwise when they face failure as adults they wont know how to handle it and theyll never improve

  21. It’s stupid and it stunts mental growth or maturity in kids.

    Growth (and a lot of life) is about overcoming failure.

    I get where this comes from and why it’s done, I don’t think it’s coming from a bad place, but it’s short sighted.

    As for the winner, they sorta get robbed of their achievement.

  22. I hate the whole “participation award” mentality many schools have adopted. While I think that the competitiveness can be a toxic element for many sports (and other things in general) the impression it gives kids is that they deserve anything by just being there. it doesn’t teach them to work for what they want in life and causes them to think many things should just be handed to them. I see it so much in many young kids these days. really doesn’t help many parents actually feed into this problem as well by also just giving their kids anything they want. while I agree kids need to learn about fairness and equality, they also need to learn shit isn’t handed to them in real life so they don’t wind up becoming an adult thinking they deserve a pay rise at work for just being there. you need to earn certain things in life and this kind of thing does not set that precedent in any way. I read an article about a teacher in the states (I’m not personally not from the US) being fired from her middle school job because she failed several kids who didn’t complete, let alone pass an assignment. they fired her because they had a “no fail” policy where regardless of what the kids achieved, they were to get the minimum grades in order to pass…. the stupidity was just astounding in my opinion. if these kids didn’t complete their work… then why in the hell should they get anything other than a fail? so no… these things need to stop for the sake of not just the children but the future of society. next you’ll be having these same kids wondering why they weren’t given CEO positions just cos they work for a company or some stupid shit. no…

  23. The last school I worked at gave out House Points for every student who took part in a race, but the Gold, Silver and Bronze finishers still got acknowledged with a certificate/trophy. I feel like that was a happy medium.

  26. Less than 1% of kids will move on from school sports and pursue a career in professional sports.

    I personally find it’s always the parents that take children’s sports far too seriously, and while ultimately I’d agree placements are important in life and for setting goals, it’s the parents that bring the toxicity into children’s sports and ultimately will make it an unhealthy experience. When the reality is these things are only there to keep kids healthy and active. That’s it.

    I played football, baseball and basketball all through middle and high school. I was competitive, and I knew I was one of the best kids on the team. My teammates knew it as well. We didn’t need some placement mvp vote to know where we stood. Kids aren’t that stupid. But every game there would be parents getting into fights over their kids, and we’d all just be looking at each other like “wtf?”

    So yeah, as someone who grew up in major sporting circles.. I have no problem keeping the dick measuring out of children’s schools altogether. Not because of the kids, they could care less.. but because of the insane parents.

  28. This is something that has slowly started taken over education/school for especially the younger kids. No one is encouraged or incentivized to be the best, because some educators don’t like the feeling of someone being worse than someone else. This is however very detrimental to especially young boys development, as it’s a very normal/healthy masculine trait to be in competition with your piers, and is for the betterment of your psychological development, **even if you lose**.

  30. I fucking hate it. Our entire millennial generation grew up hating participation ribbons. Now we’re a big part of the work force and we’ve taken it a step further….

    People win and lose and pretending no one won is some bullshit thats setting kids up for a rude awakening when they’re older

  31. It’d be really interesting to have a study done on this, comparing schools/summer camps that practice placement Vs participation. Participation only really gained widespread traction in the early 2000’s, so by now we should have enough data to figure out if placement is in fact more damaging to a children’s self-esteem, or if participation is more of a hindrance to children’s development.

  34. As someone who was a bad athlete and received a lot of participation ribbons/certificates, I found it to be patronizing. I know I stink. Save your efforts for the people who were actually good.

  37. It’s bullshit. The kids knew who came in what place. What they’re doing is not rewarding children who excell. What the pointing even trying? Does the school also give everybody a thumbs up instead of a grade on a test just for taking it? It’s the same damn thing.

  38. This is what breeds sore losers, and undisciplined children who feel entitled to things they don’t work for.

    It also teaches *some* kids not to work hard because others will get the same outcome as them or be treated the same, regardless of effort put in. This is easily seen in work environments, which is partially why so many people are seen as “lazy or not hard working.”

  39. Nothing was gained by anyone the kids don’t feel accomplished because regardless of effort put in they still got the same reward and response as if they put in absolutely none. Super disheartening

  41. The only people who care are the parents. Specifically the loser parents who thinks if their kids win at sports they can relive their glory years.

    I was lucky enough to be a college and then professional athlete. I have a lot of trophies…. somewhere. No idea where they are. Could give two shits.

    But playing sports with my friends? Having fun. Winning. Losing. Spitting sunflower seeds. Hitting each other in the cup. Being a menace to society. Especially at 8 years old.

    Also, I coach little league now. Kids still get trophies for winning. Don’t let Fox News lie to you. But they end up being left under the bleachers when the ice cream truck rolls up.

  42. They’re 8. It really does not matter at all either way. It’s a dumb activity day in elementary school that they’re going to forget about 3 days from now.

  43. I’m not surprised, education has been completely feminised. Traditional masculinity, like competition, has no place and boys are treated like they’re defective girls.

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