3 Reasons Why Awarding System is Important

There has been a lot of attention and debate surrounding participation trophies. It’s a decades-long debate about rewarding kids for participating in an activity. More often, school and other activities will award young children and the participants with participant trophies or participant awards. Young children earned these trophies by participating in the events or competitions. This could lead to the downplay participation and devalue any effort young children would put into the activity. 

Some parents debated and argued that rewarding for participation can lead to their kids to feel entitled. It is highly debated that an organization rewarding participation causes kids to be upset and whine until somebody gives them something to shut up and keep them happy. These participant trophies do not turn kids into entitled brats who would then grow up into entitled adults. There’s no reason to punish the 99% of kids who get value from a participation trophy.

Without further ado, here are three reasons why awarding system is important to children’s growth: –

 

1. Trophies tend to send a big message to its audience

• Kids put their time, effort, and enthusiasm into a team sport, which is no easy feat.
• As an acknowledgment of effort, the awarding system is a reminder that they were part of a team. 
• The awarding system helps teach young children that success does not need to be about winning, but about working collaboratively and learning.
• Hence, the real message of a participation award is that the game itself is more important than the outcome and that success can be defined in a number of ways.

 

2. Participation awards is agreed and approved by Science

• There are some interesting facts behind participation awards. Critics of this common practice will often argue that these awards would result in children becoming entitled brats. But, this idea is a misconception of simple facts.
• Alfie Kohn, a social scientist and theorist, names this general attitude the “Better Get Used To It”, or BGUTI principle.
• This principle is the concept that children need to experience failure in order to prepare themselves for the adversities they will definitely face later in life.
• Therefore, based on the BGUTI principle, kids that face failure at a young age or learned the importance of winning rather than failing, will help them grow up for the fierce and competitive world.
• There is not much support or evidence that receiving participation awards would interfere with the teachings of failure among children, as this is a growing body of knowledge of rewarding efforts that helps children to learn to challenge themselves. 
• Participation trophies are beneficial as they support children to do their very best. 
• Participation awards are what can help them stay in sports throughout the childhood of young children.

 

3. Awarding system can Increase Morale value among Children

• This goes without saying that winning an award provides intrinsic motivation and improved morale for those on the team, especially among young children. 
• The awarding system helps to recognize hard work and a job well done.
• Awarding system is a celebration of the hours a team puts into the project and can significantly and positively impact young children satisfaction and talent retention.

 

Overall, the idea that children must learn to experience failure in order to learn to achieve better in life is not as accurate as critics make it sound. There are many different ways to raise children to become successful and rewarding effort is one of them.  Every child should be given a participation award as the awarding system teaches them to learn from their mistakes, receive feedback for what they did and it is a beneficial way for them to learn to improve themselves in the future.