My blood boils when I see kids, especially adolescent kids, who expect everything to go their way, and when they don't it's like someone has committed a heinous crime against them. My neck hairs just stood on end writing that sentence!
Today while I was skimming through some news and social media feeds, I saw an article where some people, and companies, are urging parents to stay clear of party games when not everyone wins!!! They call them "no tears" games. Sure there is a place for games where everybody gets a reward, but isn't the fun of playing without reward enough?
Gosh!! Playing only "no tears" games is not going to teach any child anything, except that they are ALWAYS entitled to come away with something. So, instead of teaching kids to not expect a prize at the end of every game, or event, and to accept that you can't always win, they're being taught that every time you play a game, or compete at an event, you're entitled to get some sort of reward! What utter rubbish is this!! It teaches kids that unless you're guaranteed to win something, don't do it. It will create person who doesn't know how to handle failure later on in life, and doesn't try something if they know they may not succeed at it or be rewarded for trying. Taking away the game takes away the lesson.
There is not many a greater teacher in life than failure. Failure is where you realize what your weaknesses, and gives you something o strive to improve, so that one day, when you're good enough, you will succeed. And that will make getting the prize so much more satisfying. Learning to be gracious in defeat is a lesson everybody needs to learn. There is no worse thing to see a child do than have a big cry for not winning the chocolate, when there is a table full of sweets right next to them. It is something that needs to be taught to young kids, and the game of winning and losing is a crucial part of that learning curve.
I can just imagine what kind of adults there will be in the future if they didn't learn to deal with not winning at everything they do at an early age. That is another reason I love coaching competitive sport; you won't win every game, and so every game you lose becomes a learning experience to try to improve the next time, and win the games against the opposition you lost to last time, or at least be more competitive. It's a physical, mental and emotional challenge to be a winner, and to accept that you're not going to win every game you play, even if you are a more skilled team.
Not everyone gets a prize.. that's just life... learn to deal with it. And teach you kids to do the same. Always expect to win, and always learn from losing.
This is a wonderful post with great life lessons that I agree every child should learn. My grandson age 9 thought he was going to be chosen for the under 10, Free state cricket team. Then he did not made the team and my daughter was in tears as he got the news at school when they were not with him. But she told me mom: he took it very well and said he just has to practise harder next year
Thanks for writing this article.
Thanks @hope777, and good man!!! For your grandson being such a good sport and knowing he can try again next time. He will go far with a good attitude like that.
You hit the nail the head with this article. My resilience in life comes from the fact that i have failed more times than I have succeeded. This subject is right up my alley.
Thanks man. Learning from tough times and failure does develop resilience, and makes success that much sweeter.
Thank you for your continued support of SteemSilverGold
I'm going to have to look up why people think this is a good idea as I'm sure there was some sound psychological principle behind it that would work for a particular set of people and someone's gone and decided it can and should apply to everyone.
Tu articulo es excelente y toca un tema muy cierto. Si deseamos ser buenos padres es mejor tomarlo en cuenta.
gracias por tu amable comentario
Sometimes you have to lose to learn how to win.
Sometimes you have to lose to learn how to win.
An excellent article @bmj :) Isn't it astounding how such great truths can be completely ignored by so many ? and frustrating that so few will read this post when the need is so great ?
Thanks @graviton. One day when I'm famous, and have 100000 followers, maybe a few more people will see it...
Very good article. I share your opinion. Losing is part of life. And learning from mistakes is a very important trait, regardless of age. You never stop learning.
Thanks for stopping by for a read, and your comment. You learn more from mistakes, and hardly anything from success, other than that youbhve learned from your (or others')mistakes.
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