Should Participation Trophies Be Used?

Imagine competing in an activity you love, but after all the hard work, you don’t win. You feel disappointed and exhausted, but as you try to walk away, a person catches up to you and says “Good job!” in a sarcastic-sounding voice. They hand you a small trophy or medal that reads Participation Award. A surge of emotions overcomes you. Some of them are happy because you’re proud of yourself, and the award doesn’t look half-bad. However, you also feel like you didn’t do enough to win. It makes you angry that they are trying to make you think that you did somewhat well. In this article, I will be talking about the pros and cons of participation trophies and how they affect their recipients.

First, let us dive into the history of the participation trophy. The first recorded idea was in 1922. Colleges and universities gave participation trophies to rec teams. Apparently, they were used as a “recruiting tool” for new students. After that, events, schools, workplaces, and even the armed forces used them, and the rest is history. Now that you know where the participation trophy started, let us continue to the argument. 

First, the pros. A participation trophy is given as a way to show the recipient that they accomplished something important. It can help them recover their confidence and be proud of themselves. One trophy-maker, Gem Awards, says that these awards can “teach important values” to people. They can make children more independent and competitive because they already have a little taste of victory. These trophies make children prouder of themselves and set them on the path to success.

Now, the cons. First, these trophies decrease competition. If every competitor receives a participation award, they may start to think that they don’t need to work hard to win because they would receive an award either way. Another pressing point is that participation awards are a largely American phenomenon. These are just some of the cons of participation trophies. 

After researching this interesting topic, my personal opinion is that participation trophies should not be given because they lead to issues in student self-confidence and work ethic, as well as not being used in different countries. In conclusion, participation trophies are a very debatable topic and will stay that way for a while. Send me your thoughts!