Was there ever a time when we didn't have teenage crime sprees? I'm pretty sure a lot of 1950s lore is about teenage greasers and rock-and-roll hoodlums and the like.
Yep, "participation trophies" are a parenting #fail, but also school fails. But this predates boomers as parents. When I was in high school in the 1970s they gave "Cs" in Grade 12 English to kids who couldn't read, just so they would not have them back next year.
All of the whinging about “participation trophies” implies that kids don’t get the concept of winning. Participation trophies acknowledge that the kids were part of a team or that they gave it a go, like a letterman jacket or a scout badge. Kids know the difference between participating and winning
It all depends on what the goal is. If it’s participation, then rewarding that makes sense. If it’s to learn the skills of a game, then rewarding that makes sense. Different goals, different reward systems. Join the team that fits your goals.
I never got "Participation Trophies". I am not athletic, so I never did well in sports. I earned a Bronze badge once, but my sister got an "Award of Excellence" because she was the athlete in the family. I am the artist. I had a job in the animation industry for 30 years because of my skills.
Participation Trophies. The thing that happened because parents complained about their child not getting anything then complained about later when other children got them too.
Nobody ever mentions who profits from participation trophies either. They are marketed to park districts because we live in a capitalistic society. Someone saw a need and created them. They didn’t just fall from the sky.
We have to stop making huge generalizations about people based on a generational description. Stop categorizing each other based on an age, sweeeping generalizations based on the year you were born is just another way to separate people and run a negative narrative on a mass amount of people.
lol i (milennial) also never received or saw participation trophies.. i thought they were urban myths made up to justify boomer bitterness.
but it never occurred to me they were complaining about something THEY were doing lmaoo they made it sound like other people forced them on their children! 🙄
I'm amazed the media keeps this Republican talking point going, the kids *hate* participation trophies (AKA the 'booby prize' and that word was old when we used it in GenX Seventies) in the first place.
Besides which a shirt or hat to remember whatever by would probably go over much better.
They also never talk about the big assed trophies the winners get. Those didn’t go away. Kids know they lost a championship, the Chinese plastic crap does nothing but collect dust on a shelf.
Heh, I always wondered what people did with some of those monstrosities, really. Those that don't go to a school or something anyway. I had some cousins who won lots of them but their family had plenty of money and space to make a whole trophy cabinet in their basement game room. :)
We try to lay blame on every generation, but the bottom line is we all just try to do our best. Parenting doesn’t have 1 correct way of doing it. We’re all winging it. Have to give parents of every age some grace.
As a Boomer I have to say my 3 kids were in a variety of sports over the years and never did they receive participation trophies, thankfully. Maybe the Midwest was late to the game 🤡.
Boomers? I think not it was GenX that began the trend of participation award. I have no issues with the awards but stop blaming boomers for everything it is getting old
Good point, I'm a boomer & boomers did start this. I was never a proponent of this, and it has gotten progressively more ridiculous. There are now rec "all-star" teams with kids who can barely play the sport. Hefty fund raising goes into outfitting these "all-stars" too. Also as boomer, f*ck Trump!
Good morning! In the new year of 2025, I hope that all your past is just a prologue, and all your future is worth looking forward to. I like your post very much. If you have time, we can chat.
As a so-called millennial, I don't recall us getting "participation trophies" when I was young, participation was the key, if you won, great, if not, oh well, try again next time, all this "everyone's a winner" silliness came in after I was finished with school, at least here in the UK anyway...
But it’s not “everyone’s a winner that the participation trophies are trying to achieve.” It’s the notion that winning isn’t everything and your contribution is valuable even though you didn’t come in first.
Participation ribbons and not being able to fail is only hurting our youth. It's better that they understand this at a young age so they're more prepared for the real world. Respect is the single most important thing that is not being taught to our kids today.
My son played 4 sports over the course of 12 years.
Participation trophies only until third grade.
I'm sick of the universal WHINING of people who all claim to be "millenials".
The Baby Boom, 1946-1964, is a statistical phenomenon.
X -Y-Z-Q-W-7 and the rest are just PR bullshit.
Grow up.
Her response is good, but also, boomers were the primary believers of The Big Lie that Trump won the election. They could not handle losing. They lost their minds, denied all evidence & embraced illogic. But when they won '24, all talk of rigged elections vanished. They're the weakest generation.
Read your link, and it says absolutely nothing about The Big Lie, in fact, it almost refutes your position, saying in 2020 "Biden +35 percent ahead of Trump (25 percent) & indie candidate RFK Jr. (23 percent), but well short of the 20-plus-point margin Biden enjoyed over Trump in the 2020 election."
I was talking about the 2020 election, your link is about the 2024 election. The link specifically says there was a demographic change from the two elections. Please don't be catty with me. I took the time to read your link out of respect and it produces zero evidence in favor of your argument.
Boomers did not believe the big lie. They were the ones who started never Trump podcasts and the like. Most of Congress are boomers for god sakes. They will never leave until they die. We need younger generations in Congress.
I have no data on this, and neither do you, it's all anecdotal, but I'm from Texas, and I literally don't know anyone who believes in The Big Lie who is not a boomer. And almost every Boomer I know believes in it. Perhaps it's regional, but that's how it is back home.
I think you're all being overly defensive about your generation and dishonest about the current geriatrocracy that refises to abdicate power and destroyed the American asset boom.
My favorite thing about this argument is that it's basically saying, "let's not discuss the complex, nuanced matrix that got us to this point so we have a better understanding of how to turn things around, let's find one simple to understand "enemy" and work like a hive mind to villainize them."
I can back that up as well. Texas boomers in my area are the main group who are running around with the flags and red hats. There are other people who are drinking the Kool aid as well, but the boomers are taking it intravenously.
Obviously, of course, we're talking demographics. I'm not sure why people can't grasp this. I am a man, but I know that men are overwhelmingly likely to engage in sexual harassment. If you must #notallboomers this conversation, then fine, but it doesn't mean it's not true.
I have to agree with the use of participation trophies. The boomers AGREED is because it was an easier answer than the truth they avoid: not having them.
It's a GOOD thing to give one, because it teaches it's better to try and not win than to not try.
Boomer here. I NEVER believed in participation trophies. Sure, a goody bag or some such, with a program, t-shirt and that sort of thing was fine, but a trophy or ribbon to show up?
That's idiotic.
My kids were encouraged to do their best. If they won/placed, EXCELLENT! If they lost? Well, practice!
Well, I'm not behind the complaint that somehow it's 'losers getting something cause losers lose' ... but if nothing else it's the wrong item and idea, tends to be an embarrassing 'booby prize' and there's probably a lot better forms of swag to remember a ball season by than *that.*
Speaking from experience playing little league baseball. We had a league dinner at the end of the year. You came with your Dad. There were speakers. At the end the trophies were given out. The team that won the the league got the biggest trophies, but everyone got one because we all tried.
(Also on the 'training,' to my observation it's actually 'training' the idea that 'Losers getting something they didn't win should be humiliating and what we say is 'socialist.' (Cause that's often how jock kids behave about it at least. Never mind 'competitive parents' wanting to train just so.
Oh, well, here's where I think thinking things through a bit might help. 'Everyone gets a trophy' doesn't sit so well, but what if everyone who played gets, say, a challenge coin? Those are kinda trendy, and probably far less embarrassing, still ties everyone who was there together and all.
This actually seems more like a counter to it since it's nonsense for a wedge issue anyway. Clearly these Millenials aren't 'spoiled by participation trophies,' but rather embarrassed by any they actually got.
Never had those growing up. School zone + 1 mile for the bus was the house next to mine I had to walk to school everyday my neibour got to take the bus.
My uncle was the commissioner of a rec league baseball league. They used to give every player a framed picture of the team. Those got too expensive so they had little trophies made with the team name and year. It had fuck all to do with feelings, and everything to do with the league being cheap.
This is what I always say. It’s about money, nothing else. Someone is making money off these trophies. Now Fox News is making it cuz all they have to say is “participation trophy” and 30 million boomers all get their panties in a wad.
Same here. I remember elder boomer and older bosses complaining about our generation’s work habits in the 90s. Now (unfortunately) our generation makes the same complaints about millennials and Zs. And I hear millennials complaining about “kids” these days. 🤯
When people bitch about participation trophies, I always remind them the #Marines were the first to give them out...and then the #Olympicst. And as a #GenerationJones guy and a youth baseball/basketball coach for my son and his friends for like 12 years (He's 23 now) I never even saw one.
I grew up in Wisconsin and this was pretty common there. My parents do this every night as long as it’s warm enough to do so. They have the garage door open and greet their neighbors who pass by walking dogs and pushing strollers and such. Friends drive by, see they’re home, and stop in for a beer.
Every kid I ever coached wanted to win. When I coached my sons' soccer teams they would ask what the score was and I never knew. I just wanted them to play hard and get better. The kids on the other hand wanted to win. 5 dollar plastic trophies had nothing to do with their desire to win.
Or a bratty variation. Recently, I called my mom out “why don’t you ever tell the part about how you pulled a prank on me to get me to react poorly.” 4
Background - my mom used to take us to pick out our presents. I was looking forward to getting a sweater from Marshall Fields. When I opened the box I thought was my sweater - the box said Lerner’s and I cried. 2
I love this reaction. The other day after my mom told the story about how spoiled I was and how I cried that I didn’t get what I wanted for Christmas 1
I don't know about that. I'm a late Boomer and don't ever remember my kids getting participation trophies. What I do remember is rolling our eyes when they were given out to children and thinking "WTF?".
I made a similar comment to a bunch of Boomer parents about Millenials:
“Millenials are your children. If you don’t like how they turned out, maybe it’s time to blame their parents for how they were raised”
Participation ribbons (not so much trophies) were definitely a gen X thing, esp. on sports days etc. From 1970 to 1992, we had the Canada Fitness program. Badges for top performers but pins for all participants.
I think it was Gen X that did the Participation Trophies. Boomers would’ve told their kids that that’s how it goes & you gotta get over it so you can win the next time.
The participation trophies don’t trick the kids into thinking they won. But your point is correct, Boomers were assholes and didn’t know how to manage their kids expectations. That’s why their kids tried to come up with a different, more reasonable response.
🐂💩. I was a little league coach for 10 yrs and if the team lost they lost. I did tell them they did their best and maybe next time. No sugar coating, no participation trophy. I’m 75 yrs old. Stop blaming boomers for your insecurities. You younger morons blame everything on us but what do you do? 🤷🏼♂️
Right, the kids lost. The participation trophy just made a trophy company rich. Some idiot at the park district bought their sales pitch. The thing you don’t seem to understand is that the kids that lost still know they lost. Those who really cared learned from it and tried harder.
Yep, mostly and a good coach just doesn’t show up on game day, he has practices during the week and tries to show them how to improve batting, fielding and base running. Don’t know about other sports as I was a baseball coach.
At least we agree on this point. It seems whenever the participation trophy topic comes up, people present it as if they think the kids are satisfied by it or they somehow asked for it. It’s not for the kids, it’s for the parents. The kids aren’t fooled past kindergarten that they lost.
Not blaming boomers at all. I think the way to handle it IS to tell kids that it’s just like that sometimes & you gotta get over it & start working on it so you can win next time.
I would add that if they don’t want to do that, they just don’t want to win as much as they thought.
A lot of the kids don’t even want to play. Their parents make them. So, they are pretty powerless at that time in their life. Adults are signing them up for the teams, giving them the trophies and then blaming them for receiving them.
And they should. Being physical helps the kids’ bodies grow, and it makes their brains stronger. Parenthood IS about making kids do things they don’t yet understand is good for them. That’s what raising them is.
What we can argue about is what those things are, but we all raise our own kids.
The US military tosses out participation awards like candy on Halloween. I think they may even have an "Organized the File Cabinets" medal. And I'm not knocking it. The side with disorganized file cabinets is probably going to lose.
A "participation trophy" was first noted in the 1920s. They became prevalent in the late 1950s and early 1960s. So, participation trophies weren't invented for Gen X and became a thing to give Boomers.
Comments
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I don't care.
It's a shit website.
Oh, like every confederate monument EVER!
but it never occurred to me they were complaining about something THEY were doing lmaoo they made it sound like other people forced them on their children! 🙄
Besides which a shirt or hat to remember whatever by would probably go over much better.
Participation trophies only until third grade.
I'm sick of the universal WHINING of people who all claim to be "millenials".
The Baby Boom, 1946-1964, is a statistical phenomenon.
X -Y-Z-Q-W-7 and the rest are just PR bullshit.
Grow up.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/07/voter-age-biden-trump-2024-election-00150923
God we folks on the left are SO DAMN GOOD at arranging our arsenal into a circular firing squad.
LET'S BLAME BOOMERS! GO!!!!!!!!!!!
Also... this is just common sense knowledge among sociologists at this point.
https://www.vox.com/2017/12/20/16772670/baby-boomers-millennials-congress-debt
It's a GOOD thing to give one, because it teaches it's better to try and not win than to not try.
Society is full of actors, not competence.
That's idiotic.
My kids were encouraged to do their best. If they won/placed, EXCELLENT! If they lost? Well, practice!
Blaming ALL Boomers for the mistakes SOME made is an absolutely bullshit proposition.
They played the game, learned team work, learned sportsmanship win or lose.
We need more of that
And that’s what they’ve been doing across the board
So was I really on the worst team?
Were they really on the best team?
Yeah only the right wingers are whining about this, and I said why.
Final responsibility to teach a child lessons of morality, ethics and *personal responsibility* lay with NO ONE but the parents.
Love your kids—do your job!
“Millenials are your children. If you don’t like how they turned out, maybe it’s time to blame their parents for how they were raised”
If I’d gotten a participation trophy, I would’ve thrown it away because it’s a reminder of a loss.
I would add that if they don’t want to do that, they just don’t want to win as much as they thought.
🤷🏾
What we can argue about is what those things are, but we all raise our own kids.