American author David McCullough once said these fine words: “If everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless.” Handing out participation trophies is not going to make children learn how to work hard. No one will learn by winning all of the time, so kids should not get participation trophies. Competition is not a bad thing, and trophies just for participating could actually make people feel worse about themselves. Life just isn’t always fair.

First, how is winning every single time, supposed to make anybody learn? If it weren’t for losing, would anyone actually really learn? Pat Summitt, who holds the record for most wins as a college basketball coach, once said: “Sometimes you can learn more from losing than winning. Losing forces you to reexamine.” Losing games or competitions should make anyone hope and work for the succeeding next time.

In life, there will always be competition. With jobs, selling a house, or even having a baby. It will always be there, so why not learn in your early years? “The more competition, the more opportunity” Jason Saltzman told Entrepreneur (October 2014). If I was going against other people, and I happened to be the winner, that would make me feel so good about myself.

Has anybody ever thought of the fact that participation trophies could actually make kids feel worse? The losing team and the winning team could both be affected. How would it feel to know that many other competitors around the state have the same exact “award” sitting in their bedroom. The winning team put in much effort and time to achieve their goal, yet has the same trophy as the other teams that didn’t even win. That’s not cool.
I’m sure everyone’s heard the term, “Life isn’t fair.” What does that exactly mean? It means just as it says. Life isn’t always fair, so why should we teach kids to think that it is? With everybody “winning,” how would people not expect kids to think that everything is always fair?

In conclusion, children, or any people for that matter, should not get participation trophies. People won’t learn by winning all of the time. Competition isn’t a bad thing, participation trophies could make people feel bad, and life is not fair. If everyone received a trophy, they would be completely meaningless.