I am sick and tired of
people being rewarded for breathing. One
of the major problems we have in this society is giving a gold star to everyone
for every little thing. You just lost a
pound or two, here have some money. You
were born into a rich family and have no discernable talent or purpose
whatsoever, here have a television show. You happen to have purchased a clever pet and
posted a timely video when you caught it in the act of being cute, I’m sure I
have a prize for you too. This is the society in which we currently live. Due
to these “amazingly talented” moments, the children with whom I work believe
everything deserves a reward. They are
no longer motivated to action because they know this is what we are supposed to
do. They think at the end of any game there should be a physical reward as
small as candy and as large as cash. Why are we rewarding children
for expected behavior?
We have lost the ability to be
gracious losers as both sides get a ribbon or a prize. Kindergartners are having full on graduation
ceremonies, 5th graders are receiving yearbooks, middle schools are
having dances akin to high school proms and yet we wonder why the children
aren’t satisfied with basic items anymore. We don’t know what it’s like to be
happy for someone else as we all leave with gifts from a party. We don’t recognize that it’s not an “all
about me” moment as with our mass love of media we all get more than our 15
minutes of fame. Once upon a time a pat on the back and recognition for a job
well done was satisfactory but now, we won’t lift a finger unless we are
certain that not only someone is watching but that that same someone is ready
with a reward. Once upon a time we
worked hard to achieve goals so that when we reached them we felt a true
accomplishment had been made, but now it’s not worth the effort to be bothered.
Why are we allowing this to
happen? Why are we settling for mediocrity in all forms of life? Why are we so
afraid that someone we love will not love/like us if we say “No” and mean it? Why
are we content to let everyone believe they have abilities which they do
not? I understand wanting to commemorate
events in life. I am willing to accept the faux graduations of Pre K, Kinder
and various other grade levels as long as they are called culminations. As that
is merely acknowledging the end of a particular journey I can deal with that.
To me there are only 2 true graduation ceremonies that most people get which
are High School and University. Those ceremonies are special. They are earned through
years of hard work and dedication to an action. We have to recognize that we
are missing the mark in recognition. By allowing everyone a prize no one wins.
Why should I bother to work my butt off if just by showing up I will get an
award? We need to recognize and accept this fact of life: Everyone is NOT a
winner.
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