Hi Dr. Laura,
I was listening when you told parents to ask if everyone gets a trophy before enrolling their child in a sports team.
I am a special education teacher in NYC and my children suffer from various disabilities: mental, physical and emotional. I am currently teaching them to write an argumentative essay where they need to choose a side of an argument and defend their claim with strong evidence and reasoning. The topic I chose for my students to write was: "Should everyone get a trophy?" Needless to say, I was curious as to what their responses were going to be since many of them are uncoordinated and not athletic. Here's one of my student's responses that I thought you would like to hear:
Everyone should not get a trophy. For example, if there was a girl and she kept winning competitions and the people who get in fourth place get a trophy, then the trophy would have no meaning at all because the people who lost got one. If everyone got a trophy and lost, it won't motivate them to do better. For instance, it is fair for the winner to get a trophy because they worked really hard. It is wrong for people to get a trophy if they only show up or do what is required. It gives people the wrong message in life, it shows them even if you're not good you should always be rewarded which doesn't make them want to practice to get better. That's why everyone does not deserve a trophy, only the winners do.
Marisa
