I'm not typically a get off my lawn, the kids suck kinda guy. Usually I get pissed when I see people denigrating an entire generation based on participation trophies and the like. Now, that out of the way, I want to give you all the much better target of your sanctimonious ire.
We're wrapping up three months of little league baseball in the coming week. Trophies will be given to 1st and 2nd place. Small medals will be given to everyone. If you want to rail about youth these days, don't focus on the little plastic trinket given out on one day of a three month experience. You're missing the bigger picture. The trouble isn't from that practice. When they are really young they don't care about the winning and losing. When old enough (different for different kids) they know who won and who lost no matter how you distribute the plastic hardware. No, the true problem is the totality of the three months where effort, respect for coaches, and discipline are often lacking in many of the kids, and by extension, tolerated by their parents.
Only in extreme cases are kids benched for poor attitude, and never for lack of effort. With 11 on the team and 10 in the field, there's only one bench spot, and that is almost invariably occupied by the 1-2 weakest players on the team. Everyone else on the team can pay only lip-service to coaches' requests to do the little things that add up to successful baseball. Down and ready is merely a suggestion, and moving to back up potential throws is a sometimes effort for many kids. Can good coaches get more from their kids and bring less than engaged parents along? Sure. But it isn't something that is easy, nor something that can always be achieved. Even for those that can do it, it is an expending of effort that would be better spent elsewhere.
Strangely, I see much more focus from parents on whether and how much their kids cry when hurt than whether or not they hustle, listen to their coaches, or throw a little pity party for themselves when they strike out. If little Johnny cries when hurt, he's not tough, but if he cries when he strikes out and shows a serious lack of effort fielding, parents are surprisingly silent.
To me, it isn't participation trophies that are the problem, it is check-box parenting. Enroll your kid in a sport / activity and consider your job done, short of ferrying them to and from. You've checked the box and can proudly tell everyone that your kid plays X. Sadly the opportunity to get most of the positive lessons out of sports are left to the chance of how good of a coach you get, and whether he or she gets the kind of kids / parents on the team that will foster the kind of discipline / respect that will create a positive experience. And before you jump to the easy retort about good coaches and bad coaches, think instead of the vast majority of mediocre coaches. Those that need the parents' help to tip the balance from sub-par experience and missed life lessons to a good experience that reinforces those positive lessons that sports can provide.
/end rant :)
