Last week, in class, we viewed a video about the "Trophy Culture" in America, in which it showed how children, as well as the current generation of college students, are being affected by it. This "Trophy Culture" surged due to how psychologists, decades ago, believed it was important to inflate the self esteem of children, however in present day, psychologists disagree, and believe this "self esteem movement" has backfired.
I think that giving every child a trophy or an award, even though they lost, and came in 18th place, or for merely showing up, has effects a lot more complex, than what would just seem an innocent award. By allowing this to continue, we are creating generations of non-motivated and conceited people and students. This may start out seeming small, however it later turns into the inflation of a generation's ego. This is causing them to believe that they are a lot smarter than they actually are, causing some college students to believe they should relieve at least a B in a class for simply attending the course. "Trophy Culture" is not only promoting characteristics such as laziness and a lack of motivation, but is also changing youth's perception of success. By falsely inflating their self-esteems, we are depriving current and future generations of understanding failure, meaning they will never come to terms with what failure is and how to deal with it. Failure is a natural part of life and the road to success. If one does not learn how to cope with failure, it could potentially lead to never reaching success, because true success takes trial and error. Therefore, this "Trophy Culture" must be dissolved, as it is causing dramatically negative effects, all disguised under a shiny, metal trophy.
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