Isn’t it weird how the generation that wants to ban participation trophies is also the generation that started giving them out in the first place?
Of all the issues in the world that lawmakers could tackle, a group of Republican legislators in North Carolina is setting their focus on what really matters: Taking away trophies from kids who play sports. A group of conservative lawmakers has introduced a state bill that would make it illegal to give participation trophies to kids… for some reason.
According to the bill, trophies should only be presented to children for “identified performance achievements.” The bill would only apply to government-run sports leagues.
Republican state senators Timothy Moffitt, Eddie Settle, and Bobby Hanig are sponsoring the bill, which still needs to garner wider support from the legislature to become a law.
“What we’re not teaching our children is to be prepared for life.. be prepared for failure,” Hanig told reporters. “Kids are being taught that it’s OK to just be OK. You don’t have to be the best.”
If you’re thinking that’s a completely insane thing to say, you’re not alone. Kids obviously don’t need to be the best, nor will taking all the fun out of youth sports somehow better prepare them for adulthood. Also, isn’t it funny how the generation that likes to say participation trophies are the root of some bootstrapping crisis is the same generation that gave us all the participation trophies? Anyway.
So glad we’re protecting kids from the devastating dangers of participation trophies. They are, after all, the leading cause of death for kids in America. https://t.co/GfO6tFk0Gq
— rizzy mcalpine (@HanKoshgarian) April 3, 2023
The proposed law has gotten a lot of pushback, including from other lawmakers in the state. North Carolina state representative Deb Butler called it a “colossal waste of time,” and she certainly has a point. A lot of the negative feedback has been centered around the fact that there are real issues for lawmakers to focus on right now (like how schools are desperately unsafe places for kids, something that’s even more crucial to address in the wake of yet another school shooting that left three elementary school kids and several adults dead last week in Nashville).
But banning participation trophies. That’s the way to real, meaningful change that will protect kids.
