A participation trophy is a trophy given to participants in a competition, usually children, regardless of their success. One of the first known mentions of participation trophies occurred on February 8, 1922, in a Massillon, Ohio newspaper, The Evening Independent, in an article announcing a high school basketball tournament.[1] The Olympics issue participation medals to athletes and support staff, event officials, and certain volunteers. Military equivalents are the service medal, the campaign medal, and marksmanship qualification badges.
The term may also be used as an example of the celebration of mediocrity or of emotional coddling. In this rhetorical context, it is often associated with millennials.[2] [3]
Defenders argue that participation trophies teach children that trying their best is good enough, even if they do not win.[4] [5] They assert that providing participation trophies raises children's self-esteem, and ensures they do not feel left out, or inferior to their peers who won. It also increases the likelihood that a child will want to return to play other sports in the hope of getting another trophy. [6]
Critics argue that such trophies promote narcissism and an entitlement mentality among recipients, and are based on incorrect assumptions regarding supposed psychological benefits of self-esteem. Critics also note that some children do not value them as much as they do trophies given only to winners.[7] A backlash against participation trophies intensified in the 1990s.[8]
Jordon Roos and Brad Strand hold that participation trophies do not allow children to learn from failures; losing enables them to learn a lesson from their loss, such as that losing is a part of life.[9]