OT: James Harrison returns sons' participation trophies

[IthacaBarrel]

everyone thinks kids are so stupid. none of us would've been impressed by a trophy that even the worst kid got. but kids these days are too dumb to know it?

a bigger issue might be giving big trophies to the winners and making them actually think that they're special. kids who are the best at something in their piddly little town might not realize there's a big world out there with a million piddly little towns.

Exactly, and these kids will turn out to be working stiffs like the rest of us. Sports are good because they give kids something to do and allow for exercise. I don't want to hear about much more, parents need to relax when it comes to their kids sports.

 

[billsin01]

Kids aren't stupid, but parents sure as hell are.

Harrison's a dope, no matter his stance on the burning issue of trophies for 5 year olds,

Thank God you posted this. I was reading through this thread with one thought, "is anyone else here troubled that Harrison has intense feelings about a complete and total non-issue." They give kids trophies for playing little league -- who gives a $@#t? Find something worth having an opinion about.

 

[billsin01]

They had this story on The Today Show yesterday. Their online vote said 93% of America did not agree with participation trophies. I was surprised. Not sure of the sample size, but it had to be a fair number of people. I'm with the majority on this one.

Can we get the names of all the people who voted on that poll question and just have them committed for participating in such a stupid poll? There has to be -- HAS TO BE -- something better to do with those 8 seconds of your life.

Edit: And by the way, I blame this on Twitter and Facebook and message boards like this. We've somehow become an entire nation of people who think others actually care about our opinions. I mean, it's bad enough to hear people vehemently defend or promote a political party that could not possibly care less about any individual (outside of their checkbook), but to then have to digest people's opinions on the best dog beds or whether or not they like Target and see that 38 people who somehow 'liked' that post -- I can't take it.

 

[qdawgg]

Can we get the names of all the people who voted on that poll question and just have them committed for participating in such a stupid poll? There has to be -- HAS TO BE -- something better to do with those 8 seconds of your life.

Edit: And by the way, I blame this on Twitter and Facebook and message boards like this. We've somehow become an entire nation of people who think others actually care about our opinions. I mean, it's bad enough to hear people vehemently defend or promote a political party that could not possibly care less about any individual (outside of their checkbook), but to then have to digest people's opinions on the best dog beds or whether or not they like Target and see that 38 people who somehow 'liked' that post -- I can't take it.

I like Target.

 

[Sudano]

Thank God you posted this. I was reading through this thread with one thought, "is anyone else here troubled that Harrison has intense feelings about a complete and total non-issue." They give kids trophies for playing little league -- who gives a $@#t? Find something worth having an opinion about.

The trophy isn't the issue its the unbalanced, out of whack value we give to the trophy given to little kids. For some reason we think a participation trophy is like giving a little kid a thousand praises, and a first team, first place, MVP, you're the greatest player, kid, person in the world. I remember getting participation trophies growing up some had 1st Place or champions on the bottom if we won the league. My parents would say 'hey they gave you a trophy, good job and then moved on to real life. Let the kid decide the value of the trophy, some put it up on a shelf to remind them of the good times with friends and learning a sport and success.

 

[billsin01]

The trophy isn't the issue its the unbalanced, out of whack value we give to the trophy given to little kids. For some reason we think a participation trophy is like giving a little kid a thousand praises, and a first team, first place, MVP, you're the greatest player, kid, person in the world. I remember getting participation trophies growing up some had 1st Place or champions on the bottom if we won the league. My parents would say 'hey they gave you a trophy, good job and then moved on to real life. Let the kid decide the value of the trophy, some put it up on a shelf to remind them of the good times with friends and learning a sport and success.

I literally cannot debate this. It literally does not matter even a little bit. Not even slightly.

 

[Chip]

I literally cannot debate this. It literally does not matter even a little bit. Not even slightly.

My six year old hurt his finger on a cold night getting hit by a pitch. Cried as if someone cut off his hand. But he returned to the game.

End of year banquet, his coach gave him an Iron Man trophy.

I took that trophy and threw it right through the window of the restaurant.

I showed him.

 

[Scooch]

The trophy isn't the issue its the unbalanced, out of whack value we give to the trophy given to little kids. For some reason we think a participation trophy is like giving a little kid a thousand praises, and a first team, first place, MVP, you're the greatest player, kid, person in the world. I remember getting participation trophies growing up some had 1st Place or champions on the bottom if we won the league. My parents would say 'hey they gave you a trophy, good job and then moved on to real life. Let the kid decide the value of the trophy, some put it up on a shelf to remind them of the good times with friends and learning a sport and success.

No, it's not.

This, and other "issues" like it, is entirely about (a) people of one generation wanting to feel superior to those of another generation, and (b) people wanting to talk about how their parenting is superior to others.

This is about "back in my day" nonsense. We were smarter, tougher, more resilient, more competitive, more independent, more... better.

This is about how everyone else sucks at raising their kids, but I'm an amazing parent, just the perfect combination of fair, tough, supportive and strict.

It's all bullsh!t.

 

[Sudano]

No, it's not.

This, and other "issues" like it, is entirely about (a) people of one generation wanting to feel superior to those of another generation, and (b) people wanting to talk about how their parenting is superior to others.

This is about "back in my day" nonsense. We were smarter, tougher, more resilient, more competitive, more independent, more... better.

This is about how everyone else sucks at raising their kids, but I'm an amazing parent, just the perfect combination of fair, tough, supportive and strict.

It's all bullsh!t.

This post doesn't even address my points in my post even a little bit. It's a valid post but has nothing to do with the highlighted part of my post. James Harrison is overvaluing what a participation trophy means. I'm not a better parent than he is just pointing out I think his response to a tiny trophy is a little drenched in too much testosterone. Why return it, why not explain to your child the context of which it was given and put a context on it that you would like your child to have in it. Teachable moment for the child.

 

[Scooch]

This post doesn't even address my points in my post even a little bit. It's a valid post but has nothing to do with the highlighted part of my post. James Harrison is overvaluing what a participation trophy means. I'm not a better parent than he is just pointing out I think his response to a tiny trophy is a little drenched in too much testosterone. Why return it, why not explain to your child the context of which it was given and put a context on it that you would like your child to have in it. Teachable moment for the child.

I don't disagree. I was really just ranting because Harrison is a colossal dope and people were starting in on the usual generational tripe. I could've chosen a different post than yours to quote.

 

[OrangeDW]

I personally never cared all that much about the "participation trophies" that I got for playing youth sports, but every kid is different. Some of those kids may not have the ability or opportunity to ever play again and the trophy may mean something to them as a memento from a good experience for them.

I also certainly never thought I was "great" or had nothing to work for in sports because I got a freakin trophy at the end of the season. The kids know who the good players are. The line of thinking is that kids are going to get complacent and not work to be better because they got a trophy for being on a team? Wow. Seems completely ridiculous and farfetched to me.

To me this comes off as "look at me" posturing by Harrison, much like the parents giving their kids embarrassing haircuts for bad grades/behavior, or making them smash their video games while recording it and then showing it to the world.

It's just youth sports and trophies...I say, calm down.