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| Help | 81% | 978 votes | Total: 1210 votes | |
| Hurt | 19% | 232 votes |
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Add to FavoritesToo often, we try to shield the brutalities of the world from young people, and in our attempt to save them, end up dooming them instead. Not only does competition help young people prepare for that distant future, but it also draws them from their sheltered bubble into the reality that they rightfully belong in.
First and foremost, we must remember that competition is not some horrible demented evil set out to crush the souls of all who experience it. Competition is a natural element of life, and by depriving it, so much of the vigor and excitement of light is depleted. It is natural for people to compete, and it is also natural for some to to fail temporarily in order for others to succeed. It's only through competition that society has progressed as much as it has. Competition pushes us forward, drives us beyond our capabilities, and unleashes the human element of willpower in us all. Competition is so vital to humanity, that it seems almost cruel and unusual punishment to deprive young people of something that they were rightfully heir to. The thrill of winning, the bitter defeat of losing, and the fierce determination to succeed, is what life is made of, and anyone, both young and old, is surely made a better person by the trials that they experience through the sometimes brutal fists of competition.
This competition helps young people by preparing them for life. While it's true that some tears will be shed, and some feelings hurt, young people are surprising resilient, and not, as some people so often mistake them for, little dolls to be coddled and held. Reality is, sheltering them now will only hurt the future of the young people, by failing to properly expose and prepare them, but sheltering these young people will also hurt ourselves. The fate of the future rests in the hands of young people, young capable people who need the experience of competition to strengthen themselves, and the world around them. By denying them of this, we are not only dooming the futures of these bright young people, but also our own futures as well, as their expertise through competition will surely strengthen the support that we turn to as we grow old and senile.
Competition helps young people by giving them the passion and determination they need to succeed in all aspects of life. Let the young people experiance life in all it's brilliance, for the trials that they face will only make their victories sweeter. In this case, without a doubt, what doesn't kill you will surely make you stronger.
Learn more about this author, Katherine Jones.
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Hurt
A-Parent Success?
We've all been at a table-conversation where every parent is loudly talking over the next to ensure that everyone else realizes that their child is the best. Parents have a natural instinct to want their children to do well, but is that instinct always put toward the proper reasoning? When a parent beams with pride for their child, is it really always actually for the child?
I believe that inside parents there is a need so deep to see their child succeed that it can easily rise to a level of unwarranted competition between both parents and children alike. Shouldn't we be teaching our children that working together is better than trying to trample one another in order to reach the top spot? Shouldn't we be teaching them that being happy for one another means so much more than having to have an even better pair of sneakers than the friend who just got a new pair? Shouldn't we be setting a better example, ourselves? This whole attitude about having more than our neighbours have has moved beyond ridiculousness because we are now using our children to make it happen.
When I was little, years ago though it was, my whole cirle of friends and I played T-ball; our parents signed us up and we were on a team, ready to go out and have some fun on the field. It was still considered fun to play ball back then but now that my own nephew is playing it hardly seems that fun is even an option for play anymore. The worry that lived in that child in the weeks leading up to team tryouts was painful even to have to watch from afar. This whole attitude of having to be the greatest has taken away from what it means to be able to just be. My nephew apparently did make it onto one of the "better teams" and because he has, his parents have earned the rights to boast and that, it would seem, is what is most important. I'm very proud of my nephew; he worked through his fears of being judged by adults who would rank his abilities and is now part of a team. I'm happy simply for his wanting to be outside playing a game with a bunch of other kids.
I understand and I even agree with the fact that parents want for their children to have great self-esteem. Where I disagree is with parents who lift their own child higher by squashing the spirits of others. Children hear a lot more than adults give them credit for. They know what that raised eyebrow means when they hear mom or dad talking covertly about that third kid who struck out at bat and they don't ever want to be that kid, and so, the cycle continues.
We need to stop forcing our kids to compete and just allow them to have fun. We complain about how our world has changed but it's changed because of us, because of our expectations, because of our winning desires. We need to beam with pride because our sons and daughters are amazing little human beings and not because they can toss the ball farther than the neighbours kids can. We need to beam with pride for our children and not simply because of what their successes will mean for us as their parents
Learn more about this author, Gillian Riccio.
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