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One of my favorite childhood stories is of a society that strives to make everyone average. Ballerina dancers wear weights on their legs to make them awkward and clumsy. Television newscasters have speech impediments. The society wants to spare hurt feelings, so no one is permitted to be good at anything. Towards the end of the short story, one man breaks free of all of his weights and constraints and shows his incredible talents and capabilities in front of a camera. The leader of the society shoots him dead; the spectators quickly forget about what they saw because of the frequent beeps in their ears that makes concentration, and thus high intelligence, almost impossible.

Of course, a society that promotes mediocrity as this one does would be a horrifying place to live. Children and adults alike should always be encouraged to do their best. Our newscasters should be able to speak clearly, our dancers should be able to dance beautifully, and our great thinkers should be able to think.

But I believe that people have it wrong when they determine that it is the competition in youth that develops this greatness. In my experiences with working with children of all ages, competition does not breed greatness. Allowing children to shine, and then giving genuine encouragement and praise breeds greatness.

I teach Language Arts. I have yet to pull a student to the front of the classroom, hold up a story that he has written, and announce to the rest of the class that he is the best writer in my class, so he will receive the Most Valuable Student Award for the year. I am certain I would be harshly chastised for doing something like this, as I would certainly deserve. Instead, I go to my students and genuinely point out good things about their writings, showing them areas to improve, and encouraging them to continue working and being better.

Even in sports, I have noticed that the cooperation within the teams generates the better character and stronger confidence than does the competition between the teams. Even in cross country and track, where many of the events are individualized, the children seem to come together as a team, and this is what brings them confidence and strength. In my opinion, the only positive element of watching someone lose is watching the rest of the team surround that person and show him or her acceptance and give praise after the loss. The cooperation and support brings the true benefit, not the competition and the loss.

Some people will argue that people have to compete all of their lives, so they might as well start young in order to learn. Actually, most jobs are looking for people who have strong cooperation skills, not strong competitive skills. An employer at the top level would rather have someone who, after developing a great idea, would then go to her fellow employees to get help to make the idea even better, rather than a person who would try to hoard all of the glory for herself and thus make a product that is much less valuable. Cooperation, not competition, breeds excellence.

Every child is good at something. Encouragement and praises enhance what children can do well. Competition focuses upon what children do not do well. Encouragement, praises, and cooperation are what brings about the best in our new generations.

Learn more about this author, Amelia Love.
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