The Review

Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: Editorial

Media Credit: Ricky Berl [Click to enlarge]

I will never forget the day I was awarded a trophy for losing.

Sitting heavy-hearted on the sidelines of the last basketball game of my third grade career, I was dejectedly looking downward as the final buzzer rang. Before I could emit a sigh of defeat, a metallic flash made me look up. My coach was passing around trophies.

Loser trophies.

For Generation Y, it is all we have ever known. Ribbons and trophies are handed out to entire sports leagues, Valentine's cards must be issued to everyone in class or to no one at all and there are no strike-outs in Tee Ball.

More and more, children are being taught there are no winners and losers, and life is fair. Every child feels good about themselves, despite whether they have earned it or not.

While this concept is certainly warm and fuzzy, is it realistic? Ultimately, competitive drive is being sacrificed for self esteem. And what is so wrong with having a competitive edge?

The exact definition of a Generation Y child is unclear; however, most classify it as anyone born between 1985 and 2000. Since I was born in 1986, I am hoping I was not completely robbed of my competitive edge, given the everyone wins attitude had not yet reached its pinnacle. While I may have been awarded a Loser Trophy, I was afforded the luxury of hand-picking the recipients of my Valentine cards.

The perfect illustration of this growing disregard for competition occurred in 2005 at an elementary school in Lincoln, RI. School administrators voted unanimously to cancel the annual spelling bee due to its competitive nature.

"You have to build positive self-esteem for all kids, so they believe they're all winners," assistant superintendent of schools Linda Newman said in the local paper, The Call. She went on to explain the hidden evil in spelling bees - there is only one winner and "that's contrary to No Child Left Behind."

It is confusing, and troubling, that a group of educators believes the best way to raise children is to deprive them of all competition in hopes they all feel good about themselves and think they are winners. However, how does creating an environment where there is no actual winning translate into kids having a viable belief that they are winners?

Exchanges like this will hurt children more than help them. Talented kids are prohibited from doing well and being rewarded for it, and all children are learning that mediocre performance is more than enough to get by.

Additionally, no one ever loses and disappointment is never an issue.

Defending the spelling bee cancellation, Newman said, "You want to build positive self-esteem so that all kids can get to where they want to go." But feeling good about yourself does not get you into college or land your dream job - hard work and a competitive edge do.

Moreover, stressing positive self-esteem over competition has led to an increasingly self-satisfied generation. The Wall Street Journal explored the effects of our overly praised generation with a study by Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University.

For a multi-university study released this year, 16,475 college students took the standardized narcissistic personality inventory, responding to statements such as "I think I am a special person."

Students' scores have risen steadily since the test was first offered in 1982, and results showed the average 2006 college student is 30 percent more narcissistic than the average 1982 student.

It may be no surprise that young Americans are narcissistic; however, our coddled youth could be a contributing factor to this soaring self-esteem.

At the risk of disappointing children, they are put on a pedestal when it is not deserved.

Tammy Erickson, author of "Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and Talent" chronicles the effects of the "everyone wins" attitude in a Harvard Business Online article. Erickson said current generations are drastically different than the baby boomer generation, who are stereotyped as being competitive.

Erickson said Generation Y-ers are in for a rude awakening in the workplace, because unlike gold stars at school, the boss is not required to hand out promotions and raises to everyone.

It certainly seems like there is a desolate future concerning competition in the workforce if more and more children are being taught achievement is not based on effort.

It also raises the point that we will be able to handle disappointment when it comes our way.

Perhaps this is the reason why TIME Magazine cites nationwide high school drop-out rates are at an all-time high, and depression rates are steadily increasing among younger generations.

Research on Generation Y is still inconclusive, but it is hard not to notice the emphasis on constant praise and equality amongst kids.

Hopefully, secondary education has some impact on competition and self-motivation - I like to think it did in my case. However it is hard to deny how important your younger, formative years are.

Today, my Loser Trophy is long gone, lost to the depths of my closet.

My fourth grade trophy, however, still sits on my bookshelf, identical to the Loser Trophy except for one small engraving - "1996 League Champs."


Liz Seasholtz is a features editor for The Review. Her viewpoints do not necessarily represent those of the Review staff. Please send comments to eseash@udel.edu.

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