Everyone gets a prize

[MistyMountain]

Dd6 who is in kindergarten participated in her school's and then the state's science fair. At the state fair every elementary school kid either got 1st place, 2nd place or 3rd place ribbons. That really annoys me. Dd got a 1st place ribbon but her sheet said that she was a little shy while explaining and she should work on that for next year. I am totally fine with her not winning a ribbon or placing. She actually doesn't care but if she really wanted to win it would give her something to strive for in the coming years. She will learn that she needs to be more confidence in her presentation if she has a chance of winning. Kids need to learn that they are not going to always win. It is a good life lesson to deal with failure and to know that you are not always the best at everything. I really do not like this trend towards all kids getting, awards ribbons and trophies. It doesn't help them it hurts them in the long run.

[Flowing Brook]

The idea of everyone getting a prize really annoys me to. If everyone gets one it no longer means anything. Also it takes away the incentive to do your best and try better next time. If you get a prize no matter what why try.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

I encountered that myself in Jr. High. That's how they judged my artwork contribution and poem recitation, and I'll tell you, I am so much more proud of my 5th place in the Matholympics (the year before I didn't place) than the red ribbons I got for the picture and poem (where everyone got a blue, red, or white ribbon.)

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

I read an article when the principal of a school canceled their Honors Awards because the kids who didn't get the grades would be "crushed. " :glare:

[Parrothead]

Well, we mustn't harm the little darlings' self esteem.

[Flowing Brook]

I read an article when the principal of a school canceled their Honors Awards because the kids who didn't get the grades would be "crushed. " :glare:

 

:rolleyes: the poor dear's

[SarahW]

Maybe they thought to use 1st, 2nd, 3rd like grades. So 1st is an A grade, 2nd is a B, and so on.

 

Silly to use # place ribbons for that. 1st means first, doesn't it? I've seen "High Achievement" and so on ribbons in my life, they should have just used those if that's what they were trying to do.

[Starr]

Well the kids always know whose was best. They aren't easily fooled.

[Belacqua]

I always think of the little kid I saw at a kids' dash that accompanied a 10K. It was a cute little run, and most of the kids were so young they didn't even know what they were supposed to do. The race coordinators had "first place" ribbons for everybody, and this one little boy started sobbing disconsolately because he knew he had not, in fact, come in first. The injustice and untruth of it seemed to crush him far more than a fifth place ribbon (or no ribbon at all) would have.

 

I'm not suggesting that these little awards are going to scar anybody, and I know that in this case, they were kindly meant. But it does seem rather foolish.

[Dandelion]

I'm not a fan of the *everyone gets a prize* approach. Kids see right through it, it sends the wrong message, and ultimately I don't think it benefits them in the long run. The fact is that results do matter in life. Participation is a wonderful thing, but it's not everything - and IMO it doesn't require an award.

 

Here's a great article that I think presents a very balanced viewpoint on this topic: The Role of Competitiveness in Raising Healthy Children. From the article:

“One of the biggest culprits in psychology is wanting kids to feel good all the time,†Dr. Tauer said. “Trying to avoid competition is making it bigger than it needs to be.â€

[Unicorn.]

Dd6 who is in kindergarten participated in her school's and then the state's science fair. At the state fair every elementary school kid either got 1st place, 2nd place or 3rd place ribbons. That really annoys me. Dd got a 1st place ribbon but her sheet said that she was a little shy while explaining and she should work on that for next year. I am totally fine with her not winning a ribbon or placing. She actually doesn't care but if she really wanted to win it would give her something to strive for in the coming years. She will learn that she needs to be more confidence in her presentation if she has a chance of winning. Kids need to learn that they are not going to always win. It is a good life lesson to deal with failure and to know that you are not always the best at everything. I really do not like this trend towards all kids getting, awards ribbons and trophies. It doesn't help them it hurts them in the long run.

 

 

I don't have a problem with the way this was done. They didn't give all the kids the same ribbon. This is kind of the way our County Youth Show is done, but it goes one step further. For example, lets say she entered bar cookies in the homemaking division. Her entry is judged individually- was it worthy of a first place ribbon? If so, then it gets a first place ribbon. If it was second place quality, then it gets a red ribbon. Then, the first place ribbons for each category are looked at, and a grand and reserve grand champion are chosen from the the 1st place winners in each category. But initially, each one is judged on it's own merits. So maybe your daughter's project was blue ribbon quality, but they wanted to give feedback on what to do to make it even better. I personally like that they gave feedback.

 

They probably feel if the kids made it to the state level, that they are all worthy of either a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. It would have been better if they had trophies for the top 3 over all or something, but maybe they do that w/ the older kids?

[AnIslandGirl]

I read an article when the principal of a school canceled their Honors Awards because the kids who didn't get the grades would be "crushed. " :glare:

 

 

Was it this one? http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/20/17389354-that-massachusetts-school-that-canceled-its-student-awards-no-it-didnt If so, they didn't cancel it, they just moved it to the daytime so that all of the students could participate. It was previously a night time awards event in which only students getting recognized were invited.

I think it's great to include the whole school!

[OrganicAnn]

I think it is fine for everyone to get a prize in kindergarten. When it is high school, then that's a whole different matter.

[NotSoObvious]

I'm a fan of nobody gets a prize. If you are going to have a science fair- especially in the younger grades- make it about learning!!! The parents just end up doing them otherwise.

[happypamama]

I prefer what our group does for science and history fairs. There is no voting or judging. Everyone gets a certificate that states that they participated (and may include the name of their project); this gives the kids a memento, and it goes in the portfolio, which is important in our state. They also have, several times, put a sheet next to each child's display upon which people can write positive comments about the display -- "I like how you used your photographs in your display," "your display is so neat and tidy," etc. My children loved seeing what other people liked about their projects, and while I don't like the "everyone's a winner just for trying, yay!" trend, I think it's reasonable that you can say *something* positive about every child's project.

[JumpyTheFrog]

Tigger did basketball through the town this winter. At the end, every kid was given a participation trophy. DH and I think trophies just for showing up (at rec level) are silly, so we told him he couldn't keep it.

 

He has a medal and trophy from winning his age division for a 5k we ram together when he was 6. That trophy means something because he worked hard to win it. He wore the medal around for days and told everyone who would listen about his race.

 

When DH and I told him he couldn't keep the basketball trophy, he was fine with it. He understood that his trophy from the race meant much more than one given to everybody who showed up, whether they worked hard that season or not.

 

DH and I are in agreement that trophies for MVP or "most improved" or "best attitude" are appropriate. We want to teach our kids they are rewarded for working hard and improving, not for merely showing up.

[laundrycrisis]

Tigger did basketball through the town this winter. At the end, every kid was given a participation trophy. DH and I think trophies just for showing up (at rec level) are silly, so we told him he couldn't keep it.

 

He has a medal and trophy from winning his age division for a 5k we ram together when he was 6. That trophy means something because he worked hard to win it. He wore the medal around for days and told everyone who would listen about his race.

 

When DH and I told him he couldn't keep the basketball trophy, he was fine with it. He understood that his trophy from the race meant much more than one given to everybody who showed up, whether they worked hard that season or not.

 

DH and I are in agreement that trophies for MVP or "most improved" or "best attitude" are appropriate. We want to teach our kids they are rewarded for working hard and improving, not for merely showing up.

 

 

Wow. Regardless of what parents think about participation trophies, if everyone on the team got one, I would see it as he earned it as well as anyone else did. I would not take away my kid's souvenir of the season. And I wouldn't belittle it by saying you think it is silly either. I would just explain that it won't always be like this. I can't imagine telling a kid he/she can't keep his trophy. I also don't need to be in charge of how our kids feel about their trophies. It's up to them which ones they value the most. IMO it's not my business what they are most proud of or what they feel. And if someone gives them a trophy, by gum, it belongs to the kid. It's not mine to take away.

 

Our 7.5 yo participated in park district basketball this winter. The park district does not give out tropies for this, but his coach spent his own money to get his team of grade 1 and 2 players each a trophy. Our son was so excited about this ! He loves his trophy. He hasn't had many opportunties yet to earn trophies - it is a big deal to him. He worked hard through the basketball season, and yes, he earned it.

 

Our local little league also gives each player a very modest trophy at the end of the spring season. The spring season is short but intense, can include both extremes of weather here, and can take a lot of grit from kid to get through. The kids enjoy their tropies at the end...and as a coach's wife and mom of two hard-working players, I do believe each and every kid earns it. The three teams who place 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the league tournament get much fancier tropies, so there is something bigger to earn by winning the tournament games. But I do think it's nice to recognize the kids' work somehow.

[laundrycrisis]

BTW, there are different levels of competition available in many things. Some are going to be meant to encourage interest and participation, so everyone who participates gets the same recognition at the end. There is nothing wrong with this as long as everyone knows going into it that this is the setup. There are more intense things to get involved in that have more competition built into it, and you don't get the special recognition at the end unless you earn it. This is also fine. There is nothing wrong with either. It is a good thing to have both types available. When our older son began baseball, he played at the "everyone gets a trophy, and some get bigger tropies" level. Now he plays in leagues with more competition built in. It's all good. Both levels have been beneficial to him.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I can't imagine telling a kid he/she can't keep his trophy. I also don't need to be in charge of how our kids feel about their trophies. It's up to them which ones they value the most. IMO it's not my business what they are most proud of or what they feel. And if someone gives them a trophy, by gum, it belongs to the kid. It's not mine to take away.

 

I understand that most parents wouldn't agree with our decision. However, Tigger does many sports and doesn't need to be overrun with participation trophies from each of them. He gets to keep the belts he earns in tae kwon do and any trophies that mean more than "I just showed up." If he had been given a "most improved" trophy for basketball, we would have let him keep it, since he practiced extra outside of teams practices to get better.

 

I was involved in many activities as a kid. If I had received a trophy for everything I participated in, there wouldn't have been much room left for me in my bedroom. Thankfully, when I was growing up, this "let's give everyone a trophy to make them feel good" stuff hadn't started yet. (Yes, I see it as part of the whole self-esteem movement.) Tigger likes to be just as busy as me, and from my perspective, it doesn't benefit him to be automatically given something which people used to need to win.

 

Now, if a child rarely does outside activities, then perhaps participation trophies would be okay. But I'm coming at this as a parent of a child who is likely to do dozens of seasons of activities, each of which may try to give him a trophy. If Tigger got to keep all of them, he could easily have 50+ by the time he graduated high school, in addition to any he wins in races or other events.

 

In short, I understand why you must think DH and I are mean. I hope you will try to understand our reasons, even if you disagree with them, and believe me when I say that Tigger was fine with not keeping the trophy. (His personality is not the type to just pretend things are okay, so if he said it was fine, then it was fine.)

[JumpyTheFrog]

...if she really wanted to win it would give her something to strive for in the coming years. She will learn that she needs to be more confidence in her presentation if she has a chance of winning. Kids need to learn that they are not going to always win. It is a good life lesson to deal with failure and to know that you are not always the best at everything. I really do not like this trend towards all kids getting, awards ribbons and trophies. It doesn't help them it hurts them in the long run.

 

I agree with this. The self-esteem movement seems to have gotten completely out of hand. I don't believe we should be teaching people that they should always feel great about themselves, regardless of their behavior. I think many criminals probably have great self-esteem.

 

I've also read articles about international testing that said American students consistently overrate their academic abilities (not sure if it's for specific subjects, or in general), while students of many Asian countries underrate theirs. These Asian students who think they are "bad" at math seem to blow our "great" students out of the water. How are American kids going to be inspired to work harder at school if they think they are already great students? They are surrounded by people who are essentially lying to them about their accomplishments. (I'm not defending an Asian practices that make good students feel bad.)

[Sisyphus]

Having lived and worked in Asia, I loved that study about the US scoring low, but the highest on "how they felt they did". Why? Because it's just so hilariously apropos. Highly intelligent, well read people who lack the confidence to interject their knowledge into a discussion or make a decision are not very helpful in most jobs. The outside the box thinker with the willingness to skiff off a mistake and keep on going, they are.

 

Which has nothing to do with trophies, but I'll take our education system any day.

[Galatea]

Well, we mustn't harm the little darlings' self esteem.

 

I think the move to giving prizes/awards to all kids in things like Science Fairs/Art Contests, etc., has less to do with the self-esteem issue than it does in school officials getting tired of rewarding parents for doing their children's projects for them. I remember when I was a kid knowing that some kids had awesome science fair projects because their parents did all of the work for them, and then they bragged about their prize ribbons. It was really annoying, and it taught all of the rest of us that cheating would get you ahead more than being honest, and that adults either couldn't tell or didn't know how to deal with the problem. It doesn't bother me at all that all kids get awards as long as my child isn't learning to distrust adults and to see cheaters winning over kids who did the work themselves.

[MistyMountain]

I think the move to giving prizes/awards to all kids in things like Science Fairs/Art Contests, etc., has less to do with the self-esteem issue than it does in school officials getting tired of rewarding parents for doing their children's projects for them. I remember when I was a kid knowing that some kids had awesome science fair projects because their parents did all of the work for them, and then they bragged about their prize ribbons. It was really annoying, and it taught all of the rest of us that cheating would get you ahead more than being honest, and that adults either couldn't tell or didn't know how to deal with the problem. It doesn't bother me at all that all kids get awards as long as my child isn't learning to distrust adults and to see cheaters winning over kids who did the work themselves.

 

DD is only in kindergarten so she did need help with her project but she did a lot of the details by herself. She wrote out everything. She needed some help with spelling but she worked through it and thought about how to spell everything. We did a project about plants and she took charge of planting them in the soil and keeping track of when they needed watering. She did the measuring. She glued everything together on her board. She didn't know all the steps in the process but I did tell her the steps and we thought it through together. I think it was an appropriate amount of help for her age. Eventually she will be responsible for doing every part of it on her own. In her class you can tell the kids actually were involved in the process. It is a bad message to do your kids work for them. It would be frustrating to have a parent project win over a kid who did everything but the kids with parents doing things for them will be the ones to pay in the long run. The kids who do their own stuff will be much better equipped to handle college and their future jobs and they will have a better knowledge base.

[Word Nerd]

How is that any different than blue, red, and white ribbons at the county fair?

[Meriwether]

Dd9 just got an honorable mention in an essay contest. When they called and told me, I thought, "Wow!" She isn't a natural writer but had read a biography and spent a good 10-12 hours writing and rewriting the essay. I hadn't seen the website giving the details about the contest (we just did it because we were visiting my sister at the time and her daughter was doing it - by the way, my niece got 2nd place :hurray: ). I wanted to know how many honorable mentions there were so I went to the website. They gave one honorable mention per class. And, since homeschoolers make up their entire class, every homeschooler gets an honorable mention. :rolleyes: I'm still proud of Dd for doing the extra writing. It was a decent essay. But the "honorable mention" was worthless.

[Tenaj]

Tigger did basketball through the town this winter. At the end, every kid was given a participation trophy. DH and I think trophies just for showing up (at rec level) are silly, so we told him he couldn't keep it.

 

 

 

 

We've had this happen on many sports teams throughout the years and it is so irritating. The worst, though, is when we are told that everyone is getting a trophy and that the charge is $5 or $7 or $10. What in the world do you do in that situation? I've not had the guts yet to go against the tide but I'm getting close. The problem is that with the leagues we're involved in, the people are so nice that the coach would probably just go ahead and pay for the trophy even if I said we didn't want one. So, I pay my money, sigh, and move on. Grrr . . .

[FaithManor]

Maybe they thought to use 1st, 2nd, 3rd like grades. So 1st is an A grade, 2nd is a B, and so on.

 

Silly to use # place ribbons for that. 1st means first, doesn't it? I've seen "High Achievement" and so on ribbons in my life, they should have just used those if that's what they were trying to do.

 

 

I agree. We give grades in 4-H. A, B, C, or if it doesn't meet enough guidelines to receive a C, then it receives no marking. Their entry tag, hanging from the project will have the grade sticker on it. Ribbons do not say first, second, or third. They are just blue, red, or white. Of all of the projects that come in for each department, up to 10% of those that received A's can receive an honors ribbon so long as the judge feels the projects are worthy and not just because they think someone should get one. If there are projects that receive honors, the judge can then choose a Best of Show IF he or she feels there is an outstanding, head and shoulders above the others, project. In our 4-H Science Fair, we formally recognize Honors and Best of Show only by calling them forward and presenting them with a certificate and a prize. If there is a Best of Show winner, they get their picture taken with the judge and Dh & I (department superintendents) and the pic is published in the county newspaper the following week.

 

I am no fan of everybody gets 1st, 2nd, 3rd at something that is supposed to be a competition. Hand out a certificate of participation or something. Hand out grades and make them honest. But, definitely recognize the best work and don't give kids the false sense that their work was just as good as everyone else's if it wasn't. That will not serve them well in adulthood when one competes for jobs, bonuses, promotions, pay raises, etc. or when continued employment hinges upon performance reviews. It won't serve them well if the college prof grades on a curve or when their major requires a minimum B in a class in order to continue moving towards completing their major.

 

Faith

[Lizzie in Ma]

I agree. It's right up there with rec league sports not keeping score.

[FaithManor]

How is that any different than blue, red, and white ribbons at the county fair?

 

 

Well, at our county fair there are specific parameters that must be met in order to get those ribbons. Not everyone gets one. There are many projects that do not. The blue represents an A and the A is clearly marked on the entry, red is a B, white is a C, and then no marking if the grade falls below that and DQ is placed on the project if it failed to meet the minimum requirements, but that participant must take the project home. DQ'ed projects are not allowed to remain on display after judging. We have MANY projects that while not DQ'ed, do not receive a ribbon. Honors ribbons are only given, in very stingy number, to those projects amongst the A's that really stand out for their workmanship. It is up to the judge IF he/she wants to give any out and it is not allowed to exceed more than 10% of the A's awarded. One Best of Show can be issued from amongst the Honors projects if and only if the judge feels there is a truly exceptional project amonst the honors. So, it is a big deal to receive honors and huge for Best of Show since those students get their picture in the paper. Also, when Michigan still had a state fair, Best of Show Winners could compete at the state fair for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place only and there was significant recognition for the 1st place winner.

 

In the adult competitions, there may be 40 or 50 projects, but only one 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awarded so again, it does mean something.

 

It all depends on the parameters of the competition. If there is no circumstance in which a poorly done project can receive a low grade, failure to place, no ribbon, etc. then the designation for grade or place doesn't mean much to everyone else. I've seen many a science fair like this and we do not allow our kids to participate and we do not recommend them to our 4-H club members. There is no point in "competing" for nothing. There needs to be enough criteria and judging integrity built into the competition format so that excellent work receives recognition and appropriate feedback for improvement is given to each participant. Otherwise, we would not consider it worth the time or investment to put in an entry.

 

Faith

[kewb]

The club team my kids swim on gives out a medallion to everyone on the team at the end of the season. It just says Swim on it. The ere are trophies for the MVP, most improved, etc. The kids all know the medallion just means they are part of the team but they like getting up at the awards dinner and getting something they also know what they have to do if they want to earn one of the trophies. I think participation awards have their place as long as the recipient knows what it means.

[Seasider]

Maybe they thought to use 1st, 2nd, 3rd like grades. So 1st is an A grade, 2nd is a B, and so on.

 

Silly to use # place ribbons for that. 1st means first, doesn't it? I've seen "High Achievement" and so on ribbons in my life, they should have just used those if that's what they were trying to do.

 

No kidding. Wonder if they will think of it when the state assessments show that their elementary students have poor ordinal number skills.

[Jan in SC]

I think most rec league trophies are just memorabilia. It's not much different than receiving a t-shirt at Bible school, or when you register for a 5-k. I wouldn't ask my child to throw it away, but I don't normally send them out in t-shirts advertising old events, either.

 

I think this attitude can easily get carried too far in the other direction. We play sports with a couple of families that demand no trophies except for the winners. They are very involved with winning at all costs. I think it's great to train hard and then win, but realistically, it's just a win at a specific moment. A good athlete will get crazy excited about the win. A great athlete will enjoy the win, not really think about it again, and get ready for the next activity.

 

 

[Dandelion]

 

I am no fan of everybody gets 1st, 2nd, 3rd at something that is supposed to be a competition. Hand out a certificate of participation or something. Hand out grades and make them honest. But, definitely recognize the best work and don't give kids the false sense that their work was just as good as everyone else's if it wasn't. That will not serve them well in adulthood when one competes for jobs, bonuses, promotions, pay raises, etc. or when continued employment hinges upon performance reviews. It won't serve them well if the college prof grades on a curve or when their major requires a minimum B in a class in order to continue moving towards completing their major.

 

Faith

 

 

Exactly. I have no problem with a certificate of participation. That's fine. But prizes and awards should be reserved for those who earn them by virtue of their contribution.

 

I dealt with the fall-out of some of this while I was still in the corporate world. We hired several recent college grads and I guess they were the first wave of kids who were raised with this approach (from what I understand, this mentality took hold in the schools about 20 years ago, and then spread from there to sports, etc.). They seemed to think that we should be giving them recognition just for showing up to work. Performance review time was particularly rough for them.

[laundrycrisis]

I agree. It's right up there with rec league sports not keeping score.

 

For the younger ages, I am 100% in agreement that no score is what is age-appropriate. Scores at the younger levels IMO do more harm than good. Our basketball program is no-score for grade 1 and 2, and our little league program is no score until they reach the 9-yo level. This is for the parents as much as the kids. It keeps some parents from going off the deep end of a competition mentality and being really hard on their kids over it.

 

Even with the no-score program, I have seen a parent sneak onto a field and confront an umpire over an out. Parents get ridiculous !!!! Holding off the scoring for a few years helps keep this under control.

[Runningmom80]

I can't, for the life of me, figure out why people make such a big deal out of this. IRL, it's usually the people who want only their kids to win the awards. They feel like if every kid gets a trophy it makes theirs less special.

 

My DS has gotten participation awards in the past. He has also placed in a competition, and I'm confident he understands the difference.

 

 

I'm also not big on pushing the "work for awards" idea, so maybe that's why I don't get it?

[SKL]

In KG I don't see this as a problem. Beats giving them candy or some such.

 

My kids are 6 and I don't think they are mature enough for competitions where people place higher or lower than others. (I mean, yeah, they go to school and get grades, but theoretically that's not them against others.) I think they would focus too much on the negative aspects of competition. They participate in stuff that does not involve prizes. The point at this age is to develop skills IMO. And if they never participate in a serious competition with prizes, I'm pretty sure I'll be OK with that.

[laundrycrisis]

I totally get that some kids and/or some parents want to find competitive situations in which only the best performances are given recognition. Some are motivated by that, and it's what they want, and it's all good - and IMO it's fine for those families to seek out those opportunities. What I will never understand is the griping about the participation-award organizations. For so many families, recreation is just recreation, and a learning opportunity, or a way to get the kid off video games, and this setup is perfect for them. Our kids do both kinds of activities - our older son also enjoys the "real" competitive situations, so we find those for him. But it would never cross my mind to gripe about the participation awards in the pay-to-play programs.

[MistyMountain]

In KG I don't see this as a problem.

 

It isn't just for kindergartners they do this it is for all elementary kids up to 6th grade.

[Library Momma]

I've read about this numerous times on different forums but never experienced this firsthand. Perhaps it's a regional phenomenon. My kids have never received "participation" awards, medals, trophies or certificates. The schools here do not give any kind of awards until 8th grade and those are earned academic awards. On the sports end my kids are very competitive. My son does taekwondo and his awards have been the belts he has earned (often kids go through testing and don't even even earn the next belt). He has competed in regional tournaments but has never done well enough to earn a trophy. My daughter participates in very competitive soccer and basketball programs. Even when her team has won league championships (basketball) the members did not win trophies. The closest she ever came was when she participated in a regional soccer tournament and her team placed second. If they would have come in first the team would have earned a trophy (but still nothing for the kids).

 

My daughter has won a gift card in an art contest and bakeware in a cooking contest (for kids) but no ribbons,medals or trophies for either!

[Word Nerd]

Maybe they thought to use 1st, 2nd, 3rd like grades. So 1st is an A grade, 2nd is a B, and so on.

 

Silly to use # place ribbons for that. 1st means first, doesn't it? I've seen "High Achievement" and so on ribbons in my life, they should have just used those if that's what they were trying to do.

 

 

In music festivals, the rankings are 1, 2, and 3; all competitors get a ranking, and only the people who get 1s (and there can be more than one person in each division who does) move on to the next level if there is one. I don't see what the big deal is.

[Word Nerd]

There needs to be enough criteria and judging integrity built into the competition format so that excellent work receives recognition and appropriate feedback for improvement is given to each participant.

 

Faith

 

 

My experience at fairs as a community leader now and as a 4-Her a long time ago met that standard even though no one in my area—now or in the past—does it the way your county does. The norm in our area at the county level is for every 4-H project to receive a ribbon (with some exceptions that would result in disqualification, though that's rare), provided that the member has a conference with the judge or shows an animal in the appropriate livestock show. It was the same when I was a 4-Her myself. Only the best projects received grand or reserve champion trophies/medals or went on to the state fair. I wouldn't have dreamed of entering a sloppy project and having my name on display by it, and my parents wouldn't have allowed me to enter such a project anyway.

 

 

Accepting the judge's decision, whether you agree with it or not, is also an important lesson to be learned from participating in competitions, for kids as well as parents. The OP has her own standards and expectations for a project to merit a ribbon at this competition, but she isn't the judge, nor did she talk to all the kids or evaluate all the projects. We don't know for certain that the standard listed above was not met at the science fair.

[molon labe]

Everyone getting a prize is part of the "equal outcomes for everyone" push that is prevelent in our culture today. Equality for all. To acknowledge the success of a few goes against equal outcomes in that it also highlights the failure/lack of success of the many.

 

A few years ago some nearby counties did away with public school valedictorians and salutatorians in the senior class-rather than a prize for all it is a prize for no one. The rationale was that celebrating the achievements of a few was demeaning to the others who had also worked hard but couldn't distinguish themselves through their GPA.

 

At the end of February, the Department of Education's Equity Commission released a report entitled "For Each and Every Child", the gist of which was that schools should ensure equal opportunity to ensure equal outcomes. I agree with the equal opportunity part, but there is no such thing as equal outcomes.