The "Sissifying" of America...

24567…12

Replies

  • GroundhogsDayAgain
    GroundhogsDayAgain Posts: 13 Member
    Every generation thinks the generation following them is bringing down the country. Your kids will be saying the same thing about their kids in 40 to 50 years, lol.
  • kandyjo
    kandyjo Posts: 4,493 Member
    <---is in agreement! Learning to lose is important and kiddos aren't learing that at all these days.... They aren't being prepared for "real life" when you make them think that they are ALWAYS A "WINNER"... I understand what "they" are trying to do.... instill the "I'm a winner (valuable, etc) anyway" attitude... but having them always "WIN" is not the way to do that... They are basically hamstringing the kiddos and they are going to wake up one day and NOT know how to live in this world... not know how to react to the negative, the "down times", LIFE.... We don't ALWAYS WIN... and that is life.

    Edited to add.... It also devalues the actual reward for the winner.... If I work hard and earn something, I don't want to receive the same reward that the slackers received as well... JMO
  • cheeksv
    cheeksv Posts: 521 Member
    I don't have kids yet, but I already know I will make a point to put them in leagues and schools that support competitive environments. I lost games from hide and seek to soccer tournaments when I was young and yes it is disappointing, but without those life lessons how can we learn to be better?

    @ the person whose husband said to fail his kid for not turning in work : I was in a science class in middle school and was doing poorly ( along with a few others). Kids with the lowest grades had to sit in the back of the class ( the last row not like all the way in the back away from everyone) Bet your bottom dollar I worked my *kitten* off to do better and get bumped up. I would have told the teacher to fail my kid too, cant to the time, don't do the time. It is the only way to get through sometimes. Harsh reality
  • twisted88
    twisted88 Posts: 294 Member
    I completely agree. We need to stop handling everything with "kid gloves".
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,810 Member
    Every generation thinks the generation following them is bringing down the country. Your kids will be saying the same thing about their kids in 40 to 50 years, lol.

    While this is pretty true, my mom and grandmother regularly tell me "I'm glad you weren't like that" when referring to kids of today, and I'm only 27!
  • kapeluza
    kapeluza Posts: 3,434 Member
    We are raising kids to be stupid and confident in America.
  • dcgonz
    dcgonz Posts: 174 Member
    I totally agree with you on this. Growing up I competed on the swim and track teams. When I first started swimming I was 7 or 8 and was horrible. I watched the other kids get to compete and win the blue, red, or white ribbons (first, second, & third). It was my goal to win a ribbon so I practiced!! It was my accomplishment in being able to win that blue ribbon, something to work for.

    My son will soon start T-Ball and everyone will get a trophy. I'm not really sure how to handle this yet as I don't feel everyone deserves a trophy for just playing. You are supposed to earn it. I don't want to hurt his feelings but he has to learn that not everyone "wins" a prize. Any ideas on how to handle this?

    Diana
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
    You can't measure success without failure. There is no value in a scoring system if there are no losers in a competition.
  • Just_Dot
    Just_Dot Posts: 2,283 Member
    As a teacher, I tell parents to " let kids fail" all the time. IMO, it's better to domitian as a 6th grader than to learn the lesson in high school.
  • Cindy311
    Cindy311 Posts: 780 Member
    I also get very aggravated over there never being a second place! There is nothing wrong with showing children that they are not always going to be number one and that's alright. What kind of monsters will they be in the workplace one day? They'll probably expect the boss/bosses to do their jobs for them while they still get praised...lol!
  • freezerburn2012
    freezerburn2012 Posts: 273 Member
    Don't make me fill out a HRF.

    Hurt Feelings Report

    http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv37/punkrockHR/hurt-feelings-report.jpg
  • KarateGoddess
    KarateGoddess Posts: 93 Member
    Well said!
  • dcgonz
    dcgonz Posts: 174 Member
    Don't make me fill out a HRF.

    Hurt Feelings Report

    http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv37/punkrockHR/hurt-feelings-report.jpg

    Perfect, I'm going to have to save this!!
  • KarateGoddess
    KarateGoddess Posts: 93 Member
    Don't make me fill out a HRF.

    Hurt Feelings Report

    http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv37/punkrockHR/hurt-feelings-report.jpg

    LOL
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    This problem isn't limited to America. It's worming it's way into society here, and it stinks.
  • elysianashes
    elysianashes Posts: 100
    Don't make me fill out a HRF.

    Hurt Feelings Report

    http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv37/punkrockHR/hurt-feelings-report.jpg
    I can't believe I have never come across this. This image makes me the happiest panda.
  • Bikini27
    Bikini27 Posts: 1,290 Member
    Here's a good one, my high school student wasn't handing the work on time. Well, we go to conferences and the teacher says "He has plenty of time to make it up, I'll let him hand it in late". Hubs is like, "Fail him". Bottom line is, it affects their "numbers" if you have a bunch of kids who fail. They let him slide.

    Oh, here's the new thing now you don't get zeros for not handing in work, you get 50% because it brings down the grade too much.

    My Dad just tried to explain this too me a month ago and quite honestly I think the principal brain washed him because he doesn't think this way. UGHH that makes me sick

    My mom is a high school teacher by day, personal trainer by night, and you bet your *kitten* she has no problem failing a kid for not doing their work. HOWEVER...the way the public education system in Texas is, teachers have almost stopped giving a *kitten* because they force the standardized testing issue down their throats and the whole "no child left behind" crap. Leave some children behind, dammit! Let teachers actually teach, make kids actually work, and if kids don't do the work, they fail. Period.

    Omg, and the helicopter parents thing, my mom was a private school principal for a while and those are the WORST. She could go on for hours about those damn helicopter parents!

    Seriously, this is New Mexico to a T.
  • Simmy_Potatoes
    Simmy_Potatoes Posts: 4
    I agree with this. I remember Track and Field Day from when I was a kid. I was never into.....activity. So I never placed in any events. So what do they do for kids like me? They give us "Participation Ribbons". I hated those things. I didn't understand why they wouldn't just let me lose. They had to announce our names over the intercomes and say what ribbon we got. Mind you I was in elementary school. I always saw through this stuff. I know that there are winners and losers despite some people's best effort.
  • BlueEyesXoXo
    BlueEyesXoXo Posts: 99
    I so agree! And I'm only 22 without kids. Blah. Let kids fail and let them lose. It builds character.

    By the way, what exactly is a helicoptor parent? hehe.
  • bcampbell54
    bcampbell54 Posts: 932 Member
    i disagree.

    and my kid is awesome.

    the only way you become a winner is to not let the failures beat you down and keep trying. What is the saying? Edison didn't fail 500 times, he found 500 ways to not make a lightbulb work.

    And had he been sufficiently rewarded for those 500 failures, he might never have found the need to go on to find the one success.
  • weightlosshippie
    weightlosshippie Posts: 31 Member
    You mean not everyone can get the job they want in life? Haha!
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,810 Member
    I so agree! And I'm only 22 without kids. Blah. Let kids fail and let them lose. It builds character.

    By the way, what exactly is a helicoptor parent? hehe.

    A parent that just hovers over everything their child does and makes noise lol
  • Tisha247
    Tisha247 Posts: 849 Member
    Your a winner if you participate!
  • smplycomplicated
    smplycomplicated Posts: 484 Member
    couldn't agree more.
  • Gwendalyne
    Gwendalyne Posts: 287 Member
    I agree, kids should know how to lose. Making mistakes and learning from them builds character. Shows you what you are truly made of.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    Seriously agree. Last year my son did T-ball and it was the same thing, no scoring at all, no one even got out, they all just took a turn hitting and ran to one base and moved around the diamond as other people hit. My son was 5 and when we got there and the coach was talking about how they would not be scoring he got totally pissed. This year he wants to play soccer because T-ball was such a letdown!
  • chrissismone
    chrissismone Posts: 116 Member
    I don't have kids but def see this now. Some think I'm over zealous about wanting certain things because honestly it shows you have accomplished things ie the car,man,money,job,body,etc. They are trophie minus the man. In our society no one wants to ruffle feathers and no one wants to help others push harder. If you are hard here you called a ice crotch *****. I'm competitive I like to go all in. I hope things turn around but I just don't know anymore. Our society as a overall whole has lost it's edge and may not recover because the loss of doing things right and pushing harder is not the norm. No one wants to work or do the hard thing.
  • chrystee
    chrystee Posts: 295 Member
    I agree with almost everything, except the very young thing. My son is in beginners soccer, they don't play games yet, so they don't keep score. They are learning the game and developing their skills, in the fall, he will play real games.

    everything else sounds crazy. If you win, you get a medal, if not, you don't. I don't even think you need medals/trophies all the time ether..

    my friend was going to buy her son a trophy for completing beginners soccer, because his sister just got a trophy for cheerleading. I just said.. why? He didn't get a trophy from the league, why would you buy him one.. she said, because he would be upset that his sister got one, and he didn't.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    The sad part is this happens in the classroom too. I work with a LOT of students coming into one of the best undergraduate universities in the country, and so many of them are ill prepared and just shut down if you fail them on a single assignment. They never learned how to recover from failure or how to learn anything they don't get easily or naturally. They also tend to blame me instead of themselves. Sadly, this is one of the reasons the freshman dropout rate is so high in American universities.

    I always compare that to my students from overseas who get a B, work their *kitten* off the next time and get 100% on the next exam because they learned from what they did wrong last time and applied it for the next time.
  • LoggingForLife
    LoggingForLife Posts: 504 Member
    I don't necessarily disagree with you OP, but what is the value of losing?

Categories