https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc en-us 2021-04-05 18:19:31 UTC 2026-02-25 21:29:31 UTC hello@padlet.com 2058803 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1386717289 a con of participation trophies is that they send out the message that everybody is a winner, and that you will get an award for doing nothing more than showing up and doing what's expected of you, which is not the case in the real world outside of being a child]]> 2021-04-06 12:03:00 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1386717289 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1386849279 Participation awards are meant to incentivize participation and putting effort into whatever competition the award is being issued for. If someone puts their full effort into a competition and they don't win, they can feel like it was all for nothing, and they won't be as inclined to try as hard next time. Participation awards can mitigate this, and encourage the participants to try harder to get a better position. Persistence is a necessary skill in the real world, so encouraging that is important.]]> 2021-04-06 12:40:04 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1386849279 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387613694 One negative aspect of participation trophies is that it can degrade the value of hard work. It one member of a team works incredibly hard to progress while another manages to do no more than show up, it can corrupt the members' view on the importance of hard work. The one member, who did the best they could, got the exact same reward as the member who did nothing. Both of these members might end up walking away thinking they go places in life without actually putting any effort in. This is simply not true. Participation trophies can teach kids than they will just be handed things, which is going to hurt them in society as they grow older. ]]> 2021-04-06 15:12:15 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387613694 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387614744 There are both good aspects and bad aspects to participation trophies. One good aspect is that they teach the lesson of effort. Sometimes, no matter how you try, your best won't be better than someone else. We shouldn't be discouraged if we are on a different place in our journey than someone else. The point isn't compare ourselves to others, but compare ourselves to ourselves to see how we have grown. Participation trophies can symbolize that growth we achieved. It represents the hard work we put in, the goals we reached, and the progress we made, regardless of what those around us did. ]]> 2021-04-06 15:12:28 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387614744 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387837825 Participation trophies are given to everyone in an event or competition. They show that even if you didn't win, effort will be rewarded. This is a very important lesson to teach because in this world people be can whatever they want as long as they work hard enough. Showing that hard work/effort will pay off teaches people that hard work is very important and will pay off.]]> 2021-04-06 15:56:33 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387837825 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387947680 Participation Awards are good for recognizing that even though not everyone will become a champion at sports or win 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place medals or trophies, people who instill confidence in the team and try their best will feel motivated to be a better version of themselves. When they receive the reward for simply doing their part, it strengthens the positive attitude that everyone can contribute to the team. It creates awareness that everyone can make a difference, and being willing to do anything, even if it is a small task, by always trying to do the best they can at it, will change the team as a whole. In this way, it will prepare them for life to be respectful of each contributing team member, and as long as people keep doing their best, learn from their mistakes when they fail, there is no losing in life itself. 
~ Elyn Millheim ]]> 2021-04-06 16:19:05 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387947680 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387951653 There will be times in life when people do mess up and fail even though in the long run, as long as people try their best, there can be more highs than lows. That is what people should aim to achieve. However, many struggles will be persistent in this world, and parents, teachers, and coaches need to prepare them for these situations. With a constant emphasis on winning, having participation trophies handed out for fun decreases the value of winning by not recognizing how to learn from previous mistakes and failures. When they do not receive a reward, it can encourage them to have a want to improve, but while if it is a guarantee that they will always get one, why is there a need for them to do their best?  Therefore, by making it easy and overpraising them when they win, when they do fail, they will not understand how to rise above that. They will not know that anything in life worth having takes hard work to achieve it. Thus, kids have to learn the difference between winning and losing. Otherwise, it can decrease their motivation, and it could teach them to stop caring or trying. Kids need determination and motivation to reach their goals in life, and a big part of that comes from failure and how it makes people stronger. Getting a participation award for losing does not teach them anything at all.  
~ Elyn Millheim ]]> 2021-04-06 16:19:53 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387951653 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387980100 Giving participation trophies to kids only feed their ego. When parents overpraise their child's "achievements", their children become narcissistic. Also, participation trophies are ruining the purpose of rewards for achievements. If everyone gets a trophy, who really accomplished something? 
~Edison T.]]> 2021-04-06 16:25:48 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1387980100 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1388020701 Properly giving out rewards best recognizes people's accomplishments. Giving out an award helps children realize that nothing is a waste of time if they are willing to participate in something they want to do. Furthermore, it helps children build self-esteem at an early age. If they aren't rewarded for the things they do, they will not be motivated to do other things.
~Edison T.]]> 2021-04-06 16:33:59 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1388020701 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1388025035 First of all, someone not participating in class for one day does't mean that they are a miserable student. You shouldn't feel like a loser just because you didn't get a trophy. If it's consistent, then it is a problem. Rewarding students for doing something so simple, and something that's normally expected from them is just absurd. They're always going to want to be rewarded from doing small things, and "win" something, yet when they realize there isn't a prize at the end they're not going to want to do it. Little things like these feed into people's selfishness, materialism,  and competitiveness, and they view life as a competition. They don't want to participate in things, do things to benefit society, but for the prize, and for the self praise. ]]> 2021-04-06 16:34:51 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1388025035 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1388472423 Participation trophies can boost someone's confidence. These trophies are usually handed out in a competition setting of some sort and you will get this trophy even if you don’t win. It acknowledges your hard work and the effort put in. It gives everyone a level of recognition. ]]> 2021-04-06 18:04:41 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1388472423 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1388475667 Participation trophies are handed out sometimes for the purpose of making someone feel better about themselves. It will not teach them about failure. There will be no participation trophies in life and it doesn't teach people about the challenges in the real world. It teaches people that everyone is a winner no matter what but really there are winners and losers. Participation trophies teach people that trying is good enough to get you an award when that is really not the case in life. ]]> 2021-04-06 18:05:23 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1388475667 https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1389402532 One pro about participation trophies is that it teaches kids about the importance of teamwork and hard work for you and your team to succeed. Not everything has to be about competition when kids are young. It can be more beneficial if when they are young they are taught about hard work and teamwork rather than how to be praised for winning and degraded for losing.]]> 2021-04-06 23:57:22 UTC https://padlet.com/jschaeffer/nrn52ojxtc5yy8oc/wish/1389402532