The “Participation Trophy” generation

Via The Washington Post

August 20

 

A new study from the libertarian magazine Reason this week carried with it a pretty striking headline:

65% of Americans Say Millennials Are ‘Entitled,’ 58% of Millennials Agree

It seems that we have an entitlement issue with out young adults — an issue even those young adults wholly admit to.

But perhaps nothing betrays this point like the following chart. Reason and pollster Rupe asked Americans whether kids who participate in youth sports should get trophies just for playing, or only for winning. A strong majority of Americans (57 percent) said only the winners, but then you look at the age breakdown.

While older Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of trophies for winners only, those 18-24 prefer participation trophies — albeit by a narrow 51-49 margin.

Perhaps we should start calling those under 25 years old the “participation trophy generation.”

Update: It’s not just age; as Reason notes there are vastly different takes on this question when you look at income and education level, too. Here’s how that looks:

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Iska Waran
Iska Waran

I had the misfortune of seeing 5 minutes of the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards once a few years back when we still used to pay for TV. What I object to more than anything is a bunch of 30-50 year old Hollywood TV producers using the same cliched gimmicks that they think kids like. It always ends with the slime, the only question is what color they’ll use this time. And maybe kids do think it’s clever to drop slime on adults. (“Ha ha adults are so stupid.”) They play up that “adults are stupid” thing just like TV has long had that “stupid dad” stereotype in both shows and ads. God forbid they tell kids that their parents might know a thing or two that a nine year old doesn’t. “Food Fight” was mildly funny in Animal House 36 years ago. Every time since then it’s just been lame and unimaginative. The dreck they produce for TV is the visual equivalent of McNuggets, when it could have been more. That’s why we’re in the 7% of households who don’t pay for TV now, although in full disclosure, the wife is a Netflix addict.

Stucky

Isn’t one of our MAJOR tasks as parents to teach our children well? To help them succeed in the Outside World?

Does the Outside World give “participation awards” …. like a nice raise, JUST FOR SHOWING UP?

No? Well, then these misguided douchbag do-gooder libtard fuckwads can just Blow Me.

Billy
Billy

Remember the movie “The Incredibles”?

Europeans HATED that movie. Well, the egalitarians hated it anyways… why? Because it plainly said that yes, some folks ARE better than others and deserve to be held up as an example and lionized.

The villain – Syndrome – wanted to make everyone the same, so that NOBODY will be “super” anymore, because EVERYONE will be super…

The trolling was not lost on egalitarian whites who seem to think that everyone, everywhere is exactly the same with the exact same abilities.. which is where this whole “everyone gets a trophy” bullshit comes from…

Equality of Results instead of Equality of Opportunity is equality, but at the point of a bayonet.

Jack
Jack

Get rid of Participation Trophies.

Get back to basics. If you did not win – that is – you or your team
Did not place first … You lost. As in you are a LOSER.

Do your child a favor, tape a note to the bottom of the participation trophy.

Where the trophy says: “Trophy for Participation” add the note so
that it reads: Trophy for Participation ” as a Loser in this event”

Explain that they should look to it as inspiration to become a first
place winner … Or give up the event. Not everybody has what it takes
to win, and sometimes losers ( as you seem to be) should move on to
something else.

This generation confuses “trying” and “effort”, as success.

Trying and effort do not count – you either succeed or fail.

And you have FAILED.

Better for them to learn that lesson when they are young, than when they
finally get their first job, get a car loan, sign an apartment rental agreement …
And then I FIRE them because although they “tried” to be successful in business …
I mean they REALLY TRIED HARD … They FAILED.

Then their mommies and daddies call to yell at me for firing their little genius.

They should be thanking me for being the only person that has ever been really honest
about the concept of failure with their ( like 30 year old) “child”. The child will later discover
It was one of the most important lessons of his or her life.

Rise Up
Rise Up

@Stucky – “Does the Outside World give “participation awards” …. like a nice raise, JUST FOR SHOWING UP?”

YES…it’s called a government job.

JIMSKI
JIMSKI

We should give them all a big fuckin break as they are going to put the country/world back together that the boomers and the greatest fucked up beyond repair.

Westcoaster
Westcoaster

This makes sense given the meme post 9/11 that all 1st responders and members of the military are “heroes”. Look again at the demographics and think about it…those on the lower end of the scale grew up with this bullshit. We’re all HEROES! Just for showing up.

bb

Just the like the once really good Military channel is now the American hero channel.What a joke .If everybody is a hero then no one is .

AKAnon
AKAnon

You want a participation award? Read Bill Jordan’s “No Second Place Winner” “Be first or be dead … there is no second place winner in a gun fight!”

IndenturedServant

I’ve seen and met tons of entitled kids from 1993 to 2006 but one stands out above the rest. I was doing concrete work specializing in residential removal and replacement and was privy to hundreds of upper middle class parent/child “interactions”. A number of years ago (16 I think) I hit a rough patch and was having some difficulty making ends meet. Concrete work tends to dry up in the winter here. I landed a gig installing Christmas lights for this rich idiot in north Idaho one year. Imagine Christmas Vacation on steroids. The guy had the power company install two separate 200amp service lines just to power everything. I filled a long bed pickup truck to the brim with only extension cords on one trip to the store and I cleaned out two stores doing it. There were a dozen or more big box trucks filled with lights and decorations. We had high lift cherry pickers to decorate 100ft tall spruce trees on four square acres. In short, it was insane. This guy had an Asian wife and they had a little toad of a child that looked just like Pugsley.

To say he was spoiled does a grave injustice to the word spoiled. I had done some work for the guy previously and on one occasion I happened to be there when mommy and daddy presented the kid with his birthday gift. They had hired a contractor to build Pugsley a $25,000 tree house. This tree house was so cool I wanted to live in it! Anyway all these people show up (friends and family I assume) and they bring the kid out and show him the tree house and wish him Happy Birthday. The little freak climbed up the ladder and proceeded to bust all the double hung windows out of the thing while mommy and daddy smiled and clapped! Pugsly then climbed back down and walked into the house and that was that.

The winter I was there doing Christmas lights they had given Pugsley a brand new Cocker Spaniel puppy. On the last day installing the lights I see the front door rip open and Pugsley literally threw the puppy out the door into a snow bank and yelled GO POTTY then he slammed the door. I walked over and pulled the little pup out of the snow and brushed him off then moved him to a clear area where he could do his business. It was too damn cold for this tiny pup to be outside for long so I tucked him inside my coat and went back to work for a couple of hours. Never once did that prick or anyone else open the door to let the puppy in. Before I left I thought long and hard about stealing the pup but in the end I knocked on the door and gave him back. I still regret doing that. If I had it to do over I would have just driven off and given that pup a life he deserved because I’m sure that dog was abused for however long that evil little shit had him.

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