As a millennial, at no point did we actually want participation trophies. The feeling of coming in last was not changed in the slightest by receiving a junk trophy.
I am a worse person having been the focus of my schools mental health people. They cared so deeply for my self esteem, but couldn’t see that hollow victories in the remedial track was making me miserable. They kept telling me that it didn’t matter because I would be able to find employment this way. My only value was as a replaceable cog and they were confused why I was depressed.
Trophies were forced upon us. I didn’t even like the idea of getting a trophy if I won. I won, neat, I don’t need a gold-colored plastic guy hitting a baseball to help me remember that 2-1 game against another collection of school children.
I certainly didn’t need a wood cutout of me posing on home plate. It was tee-ball, I stopped playing after six months.
I never got a trophy for anything, but I did like the medal I got for my first wrestling win… it wasn’t, like, any big thing, but we were against a specific school that has a good program, it was my first year, I was the only girl on the team… and I won by techfall.
It was definitely a participation trophy of sorts, but it actually felt ok to get. It was engraved to read “for beating your [school] opponent, and first win”
It was tee-ball, I stopped playing after six months.
I played t-ball. I struck out in every at-bat … in t-ball. Fortunately I excelled at defense: coach put me in right field and the other teams were so scared of me they never hit the ball there.
It was the Boomers who “needed” and forced these trophies on their kids (in the same way they forced sports on some of us) because their fragile egos needed their kids to be “successful” in a useless and arbitrary way.
That’s what fucking pisses me off when people say this. I was born in 1991. As a child WE ALL KNEW PARTICIPATION TROPHIES WERE SILLY. Nobody was like “Oh fuck yeah, that’s right, I won!” We’d all joke about them being participation trophies. When showing my room I’d say “but these are just participation trophies.”
I had them in little league soccer and I knew they were BS lol. Made no damn sense because my parents were just like what are we gonna do with this junk?
It felt worse. Getting a recognition certificate or a white ribbon for coming fourth was a total bummer to my care-factor for participating. Kick a kid while they’re down and they’re not likely to be motivated.
As a millennial, at no point did we actually want participation trophies. The feeling of coming in last was not changed in the slightest by receiving a junk trophy.
It was never about the kids, it was about the boomer parents that got jealous seeing other kids with trophies around other petty boomer parents
And the boomer shrinks who were a bit too laser focused on self esteem during the 80s and 90s
I am a worse person having been the focus of my schools mental health people. They cared so deeply for my self esteem, but couldn’t see that hollow victories in the remedial track was making me miserable. They kept telling me that it didn’t matter because I would be able to find employment this way. My only value was as a replaceable cog and they were confused why I was depressed.
Yo you could post that in showerthoughts. That’s such an insightful take.
Are there also shitterthoughts?
Trophies were forced upon us. I didn’t even like the idea of getting a trophy if I won. I won, neat, I don’t need a gold-colored plastic guy hitting a baseball to help me remember that 2-1 game against another collection of school children.
I certainly didn’t need a wood cutout of me posing on home plate. It was tee-ball, I stopped playing after six months.
I never got a trophy for anything, but I did like the medal I got for my first wrestling win… it wasn’t, like, any big thing, but we were against a specific school that has a good program, it was my first year, I was the only girl on the team… and I won by techfall.
It was definitely a participation trophy of sorts, but it actually felt ok to get. It was engraved to read “for beating your [school] opponent, and first win”
We, as a team, lost to them. Badly.
I played t-ball. I struck out in every at-bat … in t-ball. Fortunately I excelled at defense: coach put me in right field and the other teams were so scared of me they never hit the ball there.
I was the opposite. I could absolutely destroy the ball at bat, but I would literally sit in left field and pick grass.
They expected me to treasure that bullshit too. Kept my seventh-place ribbons in a box for ten years until I threw them the fuck out
…i got honorable mention in the history fair in fourth grade; i think i still have the ribbon in a box…
It was the Boomers who “needed” and forced these trophies on their kids (in the same way they forced sports on some of us) because their fragile egos needed their kids to be “successful” in a useless and arbitrary way.
That’s what fucking pisses me off when people say this. I was born in 1991. As a child WE ALL KNEW PARTICIPATION TROPHIES WERE SILLY. Nobody was like “Oh fuck yeah, that’s right, I won!” We’d all joke about them being participation trophies. When showing my room I’d say “but these are just participation trophies.”
I had them in little league soccer and I knew they were BS lol. Made no damn sense because my parents were just like what are we gonna do with this junk?
It felt worse. Getting a recognition certificate or a white ribbon for coming fourth was a total bummer to my care-factor for participating. Kick a kid while they’re down and they’re not likely to be motivated.
I personally never cared about them, usually lost them on my way home
Right I didn’t want to be there anyway.
20 years later my moms like, “don’t you want your old trophies?” I said no. Those are your trophies.