When I was a kid, you had to actually be good at something to win a trophy or a medal. Or you at least had to hang in there for an entire season to get one.
Number 1 and 2 both did BMX for a few years. There were races on Wednesday nights throughout the summer.
Their first season of competing, they got a trophy for every single race. No matter what place they got. And the trophies are huge. Like your-team-just-won-the-Texas-state-cheerleading-title huge. Like almost-as-tall-as-them huge.
They each have about 15 ridiculously large trophies in their room, and they got most of them in two summers and I don’t think they ever even actually won a race. I swam my ass off for 12 years to get half the trophies that they got in one season of BMX.
It really pisses me off.
And at swim meets, you used to only get ribbons for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. They actually kind of meant something.
Now you get a ribbon no matter what you do. Number 4 accumulated about fifteen 5th and 6th place ribbons in her first season of swimming, all for races that she basically should have been disqualified in. You don’t even need to follow the freaking rules anymore to be rewarded. She had them all proudly displayed, dangling from the dance, soccer, and softball trophies she also received for basically doing nothing in dance, soccer and softball.
I’m all about helping kids to develop self-esteem and confidence. But a little reality needs to be sprinkled back in with all these awards which have basically become totally meaningless.
Or at least change what they say on them…
I have some suggestions:
“Your mom paid $7 extra dollars when she registered you! You lost, but you get this big-ass trophy!”
“You got last! At least you didn’t quit!”
“6th place. But there’s got to be someone out there you could beat.”
“You were the slowest, but you were the cutest slow person out there!”
Ugh.
I’ve got to go fold 6 loads of laundry.
It would be a lot more appealing if once I finished there was a huge laundry-folding medal waiting for me.
I guess if I want one of those I’m gonna have to start racing BMX.
I want that Number 1 spot!!! Please keep voting!
Yes, YES, YES! I couldn’t agree more with you, Susie. You should publish this article in newspapers across the world. The trophy/ribbon thing is just getting out of control. Now go proudly receive your laundry-folding trophy while I get my grocery shopper ribbon! (I only get a ribbon…can you believe it? You get a kick ass trophy for folding laundry and I only get a ribbon! So…NOT…FAIR! I even remembered to buy milk for crying out loud!)
I spent the the first few days of my summer vacation as a teacher this year explaining why a student did not get an award. Several ridiculous emails went back and forth. “My child’s last school gave EVERYONE an award” was the parents complaint. Well, sorry, at this school awards mean something and not everyone qualifies for an academic award. Awards are over played and given out for the dumbest things. It really needs to stop because this is what is wrong with out youth today. No prize…..no effort!