James Harrison Wants His Kids To Earn Trophies

Schools quit flunking kids years ago because they said it affected their psych, look at the military passing out medals for passing required courses, go to NCO school and pass it like your supposed to and get a medal, the military spent 5 million dollars last year for trans gender transformation procedures, something like 15000 troops going from boy to girl and vice versa, not counting lost time spent to get these procedures done on full pay; so it's all out of whack from where it used to be, JH made a good point and I'm seeing a lot of people in the news agreeing with him....

 

I'd say: "are you still alive? That's your reward."

 

Eh, there's a whole load of reasons why these things happen. That was kind of what I was getting at with my criticism of JH earlier. There's a whole load of reasons why coaches, organisers or educators might take this route. Maybe one is not to hurt kids feelings. The more significant reasons will depend on context, evidence-base informing practice, pedagogical theory, etc. If the decision to hand out participation trophies is made without any real thought about it, then it's that which makes it worthless. If it's made on the back of some clear reasoning, then it's the reasoning that needs looking at, not just the surface result.

BFT, am I sounding too British here..?

 

Lol - if it helps, I was downing a beer and punching a wall in between every sentence.

 

We all know it was a chandy....

 

How about a "You Suck" trophy? Or maybe call it the "Seinfeld Trophy" which you get for doing nothing. That way they STILL get the trophy and the people who think they don't deserve it can be happy too. LOL.

 

I would say "You get to be the son of one of the greatest Steelers ever. That should be sufficient." LOL.

 

No it would have only sounded British if you had said "Anyone that disagrees with me is such a stupid get and I will have a go at them if they don't shut their bloody holes." LOL.

 

Huh! If that was the case I would have a wall full of them!

 

ME TOO!!! LOL!!! I'm like the guy who died a few years ago and wrote his own obituary and started it with the phrase "After a lifelong battle with mediocrity I died this week". LOL!

 

Wow.. great thread to read... It should be noted, that America is the only country with a show, called, "Biggest Loser"...That crowns a "winner", at the end...

Anyhow, I agree with James 90%, on his stance, with the 10 % exception, of handicapped leagues, or kids that just realistically have no chance to compete with the rest, due to whatever.. If you wanna give them "participation trophies".. fine...

The other 90 percent, need to realize, that nothing is handed to them, and they need to earn it...

At least he didn`t use a "switch"...

Still not sure that`s a bad thing, but, I guess nowadays, it is...

There is a guy who writes a column every Sunday, in the Akron Beacon Journal, about parenting.
I think his name is Dr. John Rosenthall, or something like that...
I look forward to reading the column every week...
People write in questions about how to solve problems they are having with their kids, and ask him for advice.

His basic premise, is that parents pre 1960`s, had it right, before all this "psycho-babble" about "proper parenting" took hold since then.

Be the PARENT... you are an authority figure, not their friend!
They don`t need to be "coddled", and "helped", the less involved you are in their lives (at least with helping them solve their homework problems, etc...), the more successfull, and self-reliant, they will become...

Don`t "schedule activities" for them... and turn into a taxi driver taking them everywhere...
and hovering over them when they get there..

Send them outside to play, and let them find things they want to do..

If they whine about "getting bored", assign them chores to take up their time...

They will miraculously become bored, less often.

When they make mistakes, punish them reasonably, and explain why they are being punished...

With no "wiggle room", to avoid the punishment, or "Next time you do this..."...

Don`t "ask" them to do what you want, "TELL" them...

You are the authority figure, and believe it or not, they need that, and will grow up feeling more secure, if they believe Mommy/Daddy has all the answers, even if you don`t!, They don`t need to know that!!!

He points to a lot of studies, that disprove, what we in America, have come to accept, as "normal"...
"Well, they are just kids, The adolescent mind isn`t fully developed, teenagers are going through puberty, and their hormones are taking over, the brain isn`t fully formed, etc.. etc..."

NO!!! In lots of other societies currentley, and even in America, 50 years ago, teens have been respectfull of their elders, and hardworking, contributing members of society...

Not to say that ALL teens in America aren`t,...

But, unfortunateley, MOST of them aren`t, and I firmly believe it`s because we LET them get away with behavior that would have been unacceptable, a generation, or two, ago!!!


Ok, Sorry, My "Old Fogey" rant is over.. Just had to get it off my chest!

Way to go, Mr. Harrison!!!

 

you damn kids get off my lawn!!!!

 

Sadly not...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Biggest_Loser

 

I love Harrison's response! Leave it to a Steeler to educate his children that you have to work hard for what you get - no handouts!!!!

 

Indeed so. And welcome.

I am 13, growing up in an era when participation trophies are handed out like candy on Halloween... and have a total of 0 trophies. Yes, I did do sports when I was younger (it was soccer, I was 7, and I never touched the ball all season). I have not done sports since (unless you count marching band, in which case I got out of a 7 year absence of sports).

 

I think every one knows how I feel about this topic
and have discussed on old board. May God help us all in the US.

 

Personally, I don't see why a participation trophy is such a big deal. It's a piece of plastic. Trophies never defined me as a person, so I'm not sure there's much reason for outrage over participation trophies. You can still instill higher goals.... like "hey wouldn't that be cool to win the championship trophy?" They are just kids and not martyrs. 5 years from now they won't even remember the trophy.