The "Sissifying" of America...

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  • Tracey0013
    Tracey0013 Posts: 154 Member
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    I am all for winners and losers thing but I think the school was trying to get kids to read and work as teams more than anything. Maybe they should have given the top three teams gold, silver and bronze and all the others get blue ribbons.
  • jrsey86
    jrsey86 Posts: 186 Member
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    Amen, brother!!!

    I was never great at athletics, but academics were my strength. If my parents had lied to me and tried to make me believe that I was good at the things I wasn't....well, I wouldn't be where I am today.

    Thank you for being the voice of reason. Failure is a valuable lesson learned. It's a painful one, but it is still valuable.

    I wish my father was half as good as you are. Kudos, man!
  • Anomalia
    Anomalia Posts: 506 Member
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    I'm amazed that some of you actually don't see anything wrong with giving all the kids the same blue ribbon. If a child does not have the ability to excel at something, that is the hand they were dealt.

    This is the kind of stuff that causes people to think they are entitled to everything for doing nothing.

    Couldn't have said it better myself.
  • FitLink
    FitLink Posts: 1,317 Member
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    I am not an expert...but, olympians do train when they are children...MN hockey, kids start when they are 3, it's almost cult'ish and sad. But, that's the way it is.

    Again, at least in America, BY CHOICE--at least their parent's choice, and I hope the kids have input. School activities are usually compusory, the fact remains that FIFTH GRADERS ARE NOT COMPELLED TO COMPETE IN THE OLYMPICS. Adolescents and adults CHOOSE to compete. That is the VERY IMPORTANT difference.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    So the take away from this thread is "there is only one winner" and "if you ain't winning, you're losing." That right? We should make fifth graders feel like losers no matter how hard they work unless they are the winner in a school event? BTW, the OP's daughter's team DIDN'T win--they were third. Losers?
    and if I didn't do well I didn't get put down about it
  • FitLink
    FitLink Posts: 1,317 Member
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    I'm amazed that some of you actually don't see anything wrong with giving all the kids the same blue ribbon. If a child does not have the ability to excel at something, that is the hand they were dealt.

    This is the kind of stuff that causes people to think they are entitled to everything for doing nothing.

    Couldn't have said it better myself.

    A child who works very hard, and to the best of his/her ability, and still doesn't come in first, has not "done nothing." I am amazed that you don't see that children's rewards should be determined by trying rather than by coming in first.
  • HardcorePork
    HardcorePork Posts: 109 Member
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    The kids who consistently beat me in sports in elementary school are not "better" than me any more than I am "better" than them because I kicked their butts on every test given throughout our entire school career.

    I don't like your presumption that athletes aren't studious.
  • FitLink
    FitLink Posts: 1,317 Member
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    So the take away from this thread is "there is only one winner" and "if you ain't winning, you're losing." That right? We should make fifth graders feel like losers no matter how hard they work unless they are the winner in a school event? BTW, the OP's daughter's team DIDN'T win--they were third. Losers?
    and if I didn't do well I didn't get put down about it

    That's a put down? I'm not the one who said "if you ain't winning, you're losing." I assumed you and the OP felt it was appropriate to call the people who didn't win losers. And the OP's child? Hmmmm....didn't win.
  • Heaven71
    Heaven71 Posts: 706 Member
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    So, I attended a function my daughter had called the "Reading Olympics", last night. There were 2,000 5th graders from schools all over my area of the state. Basic premise is teams of 5th graders get asked questions about 50 books that they have read between them, meaning each kid should read about 7 books, but you can read more. You can also read less per kid; it's all up to the kids. My daughter read about 15 of the 50 books.

    So, my daughter's team faced 3 other teams, one team at a time, and her team beat all 3 teams they faced... I am VERY HAPPY about that. A perfect score would be 120 points, but that would mean that your opponents answered every question wrong and your team then "stole" all their points by answering all the missed question by the other teams correctly.

    Realistically, 70 points is FABULOUS..... The highest score achieved tonight was 67 points... my daughter's team scored 61, and had the 3rd most points overall.

    So when it was over, my kids were told that their school won a "Blue Ribbon".... Which sounds cool, until you realize that teams that only score 45 also got a blue ribbon, as did the teams who scored above my daughter's team... From what I was told, EVERY team "won" a blue ribbon. I know I heard a lot of kids talking in the hallways about their team winning a blue ribbon.

    Then over the PA system, the principal says "We have 2000 winners tonight, not a single loser in the bunch.".

    This, IMO, is why the USA is backsliding. We reward losing with blue ribbons. Mediocrity is every bit as good as being awesome.... God forbid a kid doesn't learn how to lose. Kids today are not like kids from my era. We had winners. We had losers. We kept score! Can you imagine that? We kept score in athletics. The "mercy rule" in my baseball league was 12 runs in an inning, or 20 in a game. Besides the leagues that don't keep score, because "there are no losers here", ( That makes me want to shoot myself..... ) we have a league that does keep score, but the mercy rule is 4 runs...... Somebody else told me that when his kid's team started beating another team by too much, they turn the scoreboard around so the losing kids don't feel bad.

    All you parents who won't let your kids learn the value of losing are only hurting your kids. America is becoming a country of sissies. We are hurting our kid's development all in the name of political correctness, and the desire that no kid should ever feel sad..... What a bunch of nonsense.

    If you're a fat kid, and you're the last one picked... well, do something about it. If you are on a team that stinks, well, work to get better and learn from your failures. Nobody wins ALL THE TIME. But every time somebody tells a kid that "there are no losers here", well, you may have just turned a bunch of kids into potential losers IN LIFE.

    Sorry for my rant, but I hate this "sissifying" of our country. Let your kids learn that there are winners and losers... PLEASE.

    Liberalism at it's peak! I agree with Mike in saying, Liberalism is a mental disorder. Seriously, it's ruining this country.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    So the take away from this thread is "there is only one winner" and "if you ain't winning, you're losing." That right? We should make fifth graders feel like losers no matter how hard they work unless they are the winner in a school event? BTW, the OP's daughter's team DIDN'T win--they were third. Losers?
    and if I didn't do well I didn't get put down about it

    That's a put down? I'm not the one who said "if you ain't winning, you're losing." I assumed you and the OP felt it was appropriate to call the people who didn't win losers. And the OP's child? Hmmmm....didn't win.
    If you look back, that was a direct statement about life - not sport. Very different scenarios.
  • StatutoryGrape
    StatutoryGrape Posts: 365
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    As the late and great George Carlin once said:

    "You're a fu***** loser Bobby"

    He said this of course in the context that everybody should hear this, it allows for personal growth!

    Exactly. I was only told I did well when I did extremely well, and it taught me the difference between being great and being just okay. It didn't hurt me or stunt my growth in any way. In fact, it did the opposite--I learned to push myself even harder because I knew what I was capable of. Kids need to learn to be proud of THEMSELVES instead of relying on others for round-the-clock positive reinforcement, because life isn't going to hand you a cookie or give you a pat on the back every time you do something well.
  • Smiler106
    Smiler106 Posts: 124 Member
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    Disagree. Regardless of what ribbons and medals were handed out the kids KNOW who won and who lost. Give them more credit. They are not as stupid their parents. Achknowledging the value of participation does not make you a sissy.
  • FitLink
    FitLink Posts: 1,317 Member
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    The kids who consistently beat me in sports in elementary school are not "better" than me any more than I am "better" than them because I kicked their butts on every test given throughout our entire school career.

    I don't like your presumption that athletes aren't studious.

    The kids in question, if you read my posts, weren't athletes. As an aspie with severe vision problems I was easily beat by every kid in the class. Because I also am intellectually gifted, I was able to beat every kid in my class academically, without working very hard. I said nothing about athlete's academic ability.

    The fact remains, I kicked their *kitten* academically, athletes or not.
  • porcelain_doll
    porcelain_doll Posts: 1,005 Member
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    I don't have children, but I can't imagine how a child is going to feel when they grow up and get their education, and then their first job. Or, attempt at getting their first job. They will not be used to the feeling of rejection and "not winning" a job. It seems like it is going to backfire so incredibly bad in regard to people developing depression and other mental instabilities.

    And since I am 32 years old now, 10 or 20 years from now when I will have advanced in my career and have younger people working under me, I can already see how that is not going to work out so well. People wanting all of their ideas to be accepted, their work to always be considered excellent, etc. And the bearer of bad news will be the witch.
  • HardcorePork
    HardcorePork Posts: 109 Member
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    You can reward kids for trying, sure. But maybe you should also teach them how to succeed, and the consequences of failure as well...
  • FitLink
    FitLink Posts: 1,317 Member
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    So the take away from this thread is "there is only one winner" and "if you ain't winning, you're losing." That right? We should make fifth graders feel like losers no matter how hard they work unless they are the winner in a school event? BTW, the OP's daughter's team DIDN'T win--they were third. Losers?
    and if I didn't do well I didn't get put down about it

    That's a put down? I'm not the one who said "if you ain't winning, you're losing." I assumed you and the OP felt it was appropriate to call the people who didn't win losers. And the OP's child? Hmmmm....didn't win.
    If you look back, that was a direct statement about life - not sport. Very different scenarios.

    But the OP was talking about a competition, not "life." CHILDREN should be rewarded for participation and effort, not winning and losing, because it IS a very different scenario from either the competitions of adolescents and adults AND the adult world. Indeed, that is my ENTIRE point.
  • FitLink
    FitLink Posts: 1,317 Member
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    You can reward kids for trying, sure. But maybe you should also teach them how to succeed, and the consequences of failure as well...

    "...consequences of failure..." ?!? at 10YO?!? If a child has done the best s/he can, s/he HAS succeeded, whatever the score...
  • DieVixen
    DieVixen Posts: 790 Member
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    It's crap like this that also makes school uniforms a requirement,at my sons school they flat out said its so kids who can't afford designer clothes don't feel bad. Ridiculous and stupid. So now some kids have designer kahkie pants and some don't,so it didn't solve a damn thing except suck all sense of individualty away
  • Carl01
    Carl01 Posts: 9,370 Member
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    So the take away from this thread is "there is only one winner" and "if you ain't winning, you're losing." That right? We should make fifth graders feel like losers no matter how hard they work unless they are the winner in a school event? BTW, the OP's daughter's team DIDN'T win--they were third. Losers?
    and if I didn't do well I didn't get put down about it

    That's a put down? I'm not the one who said "if you ain't winning, you're losing." I assumed you and the OP felt it was appropriate to call the people who didn't win losers. And the OP's child? Hmmmm....didn't win.
    If you look back, that was a direct statement about life - not sport. Very different scenarios.

    But the OP was talking about a competition, not "life." CHILDREN should be rewarded for participation and effort, not winning and losing, because it IS a very different scenario from either the competitions of adolescents and adults AND the adult world. Indeed, that is my ENTIRE point.

    At what chronological age does one suddenly become an adult where now the entire paradigm of life can change and it be accepted and understood?
  • packersfn7
    packersfn7 Posts: 62 Member
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    I was at a kid's birthday party where the parents wouldn't let their child open his presents in front of his friends because the other kids would get jealous. Kids need to learn they are not the center of the universe, not always first place, not number 1 in the view of the world. I think is the result is these younger generations (my generation included) where people have a sense of entitlement. Not good life skills.

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