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Becky Booroojian didn’t
work hard—-didn’t even want to be on the team. But at the
end of the season, she got a trophy, like everyone else who played
T-ball. She says, “I don’t really think I earned it
that much because all I would do at practices and even sometimes
games is sit on the sidelines and cry.”
She got the participation trophy— just for showing up. Her brothers
have them too. 10-year-old Joe says, “You know how sometimes
you just get medals even if you didn’t do very well? Well,
this is how I kinda got this medal. I didn’t really do anything
this year of basketball, I couldn’t really keep up, I couldn’t
score.”
The goal is to build self-esteem. But instead, are kids learning
they don’t have to work hard to get a reward? 14-year-old
Jeff says, “I didn’t even contribute to the team. They
just gave it to us.”
Experts say participation trophies can build self-esteem
in younger kids. Dr. Nadine Kaslow, Professor and Chief
Psychologist at Emory School of Medicine says, “I think for
children who may not be that athletically talented or gifted, they
do need to be acknowledged for their participation, for their effort
at trying.”
But she says, by the time kids get to middle school, it’s
important to reward performance. Dr. Kaslow says, “I think
for older children, just showing up at the team and getting a trophy
for just being there, may not be all that meaningful. It may make
more sense to acknowledge those who really excel when they are
older.”
Becky’s dad agrees. He says, “Up in my room I have
three trophies that I won for chess tournaments, and I still have
them because they are probably the only three trophies I ever won
for anything. They were exciting when I won them. You know, it
probably is a little too bad that they’ve gotten so many
of these trophies.”
Dr. Kaslow says leagues that give participation trophies should
expect kids to attend a required number of games.
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