Competition is like, bad for the spirit, dude!

[IDMR]

You probably heard that the principal of Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, California, has banned the familiar game of "tag" during the lunch recess of their grade school, which houses kindergarten through fifth-grade students, because tag and similar games cause concussions, broken bones and numerous bumps. But these physical dangers were not the only harm cited. The principal wrote:


In this game, there is a "victim" or "It," which creates a self-esteem issue. The oldest or biggest child usually dominates . . .
Wow! Can't have that!

What madness is this? Surely we will now ban hockey and football, because faster, stronger, more skilled players will win! Chess, too, has to go, unless only drawn games are allowed. Think of it: Parcheesi, poker, sack races, elections, how much of our lives will be altered here?

Well, it's not only in California, folks. It's gone as far as New York State. A reader writes:


Just yesterday I heard that the Elmira City School district may be looking to do away with declaring valedictorian and salutatorian honors at high school graduations and I think that is just absurd. The people that win those honors are a special breed. They bust their asses, they are goal-oriented, and they deserve recognition for their hard work. Sure there are more than just two students in every class that bust their asses and are goal oriented, and they may feel left out by not having these honors bestowed on them, but guess what? That's life. It's a dog-eat-dog world. If you want to be honored over someone else, that is more incentive for you to bust your ass. That's the problem with this world (and especially this town). People have grown to be so content with mediocrity that they actually strive for it. Not only that, the governing bodies want to reinforce it! By not recognizing the best and the brightest students, you are removing all motivation to be the best and brightest student.
What's next? Should we do away with the Emmys and the Oscars because they fail to honor every performer that gave a good performance? Maybe we should do away with the medal ceremonies at the Olympics, because we don't want to hurt the bronze medalist's feelings. Maybe we should not announce an MVP of the Super Bowl anymore because football is a team sport and every member of the team deserves credit. McDonald's should certainly do away with their employee-of-the-month system; it's unfair to those employees who are rude to the customers. Maybe we should do away with every single thing that gives recognition or status to individuals, because we don't want anyone to feel left out. Every employee of every company should be paid exactly the same, every sports contest should be declared a draw, and it should be illegal to consider one friend (of a group) to be your "best friend." Give me a break, people.

Sure, eliminating valedictorian and salutatorian status might sound like a good idea on the surface. It's certainly a way to eliminate some unnecessary competition, bring all children to a more even keel, and save some children's self-esteem. But this idea is nothing all that new or revolutionary at all. The basic concept of having a society where everyone is made to be exactly the same, and people aren't honored and rewarded for their hard work and their accomplishments has been around for ages. A man by the name of Marx wrote an entire book, and started an entire political system based solely on that premise way back in 1848. Maybe you've heard of it: the Communist Manifesto.

This self-esteem nonsense has really gone a little too far...

[A Big Flying Fish]

Why, why always with the political correctness.
This is slowly going to happen more, I think, as now everyone has to be treated the same. At the current rate of things theres no longer going to be a grade system for school work, just a prepregrammed computer that says well done in the normal, boring monotonus voice.
but on the serious side of things, this is just rediculous. If people work their arses off to do well, give then credit. And games of "It" being banned for it being competitive is just plain stupid, what other reason do they think games were invented for.
This is why people should be given a common sense test before they're allowed into positions of power

[Shadow WarChief]

I said it before and I'll say it again.


The Shadows were right

[Enlightenment]

The Shadows were right

Which explains the stunning success of places like Afghanistan, the Balkans, most of Africa, and much of South America.

Not.

[jock]

The Shadows were right

Which explains the stunning success of places like Afghanistan, the Balkans, most of Africa, and much of South America.

Not.

Well, some of those places do have cool hats...

[Antediluvian]

You probably heard that the principal of Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, California, has banned the familiar game of "tag" during the lunch recess of their grade school, which houses kindergarten through fifth-grade students, because tag and similar games cause concussions, broken bones and numerous bumps. But these physical dangers were not the only harm cited. The principal wrote:


In this game, there is a "victim" or "It," which creates a self-esteem issue. The oldest or biggest child usually dominates . . .
Wow! Can't have that!

What madness is this? Surely we will now ban hockey and football, because faster, stronger, more skilled players will win! Chess, too, has to go, unless only drawn games are allowed. Think of it: Parcheesi, poker, sack races, elections, how much of our lives will be altered here?

Well, it's not only in California, folks. It's gone as far as New York State. A reader writes:


Just yesterday I heard that the Elmira City School district may be looking to do away with declaring valedictorian and salutatorian honors at high school graduations and I think that is just absurd. The people that win those honors are a special breed. They bust their asses, they are goal-oriented, and they deserve recognition for their hard work. Sure there are more than just two students in every class that bust their asses and are goal oriented, and they may feel left out by not having these honors bestowed on them, but guess what? That's life. It's a dog-eat-dog world. If you want to be honored over someone else, that is more incentive for you to bust your ass. That's the problem with this world (and especially this town). People have grown to be so content with mediocrity that they actually strive for it. Not only that, the governing bodies want to reinforce it! By not recognizing the best and the brightest students, you are removing all motivation to be the best and brightest student.
What's next? Should we do away with the Emmys and the Oscars because they fail to honor every performer that gave a good performance? Maybe we should do away with the medal ceremonies at the Olympics, because we don't want to hurt the bronze medalist's feelings. Maybe we should not announce an MVP of the Super Bowl anymore because football is a team sport and every member of the team deserves credit. McDonald's should certainly do away with their employee-of-the-month system; it's unfair to those employees who are rude to the customers. Maybe we should do away with every single thing that gives recognition or status to individuals, because we don't want anyone to feel left out. Every employee of every company should be paid exactly the same, every sports contest should be declared a draw, and it should be illegal to consider one friend (of a group) to be your "best friend." Give me a break, people.

Sure, eliminating valedictorian and salutatorian status might sound like a good idea on the surface. It's certainly a way to eliminate some unnecessary competition, bring all children to a more even keel, and save some children's self-esteem. But this idea is nothing all that new or revolutionary at all. The basic concept of having a society where everyone is made to be exactly the same, and people aren't honored and rewarded for their hard work and their accomplishments has been around for ages. A man by the name of Marx wrote an entire book, and started an entire political system based solely on that premise way back in 1848. Maybe you've heard of it: the Communist Manifesto.

This self-esteem nonsense has really gone a little too far...

I agree. Don't they know competition is good for you? The desire to be the best is healthy and promotes creativity and the drive to succeed.

Jesus, how moronic can these people be?

[Antediluvian]

Why, why always with the political correctness.
This is slowly going to happen more, I think, as now everyone has to be treated the same. At the current rate of things theres no longer going to be a grade system for school work, just a prepregrammed computer that says well done in the normal, boring monotonus voice.
but on the serious side of things, this is just rediculous. If people work their arses off to do well, give then credit. And games of "It" being banned for it being competitive is just plain stupid, what other reason do they think games were invented for.
This is why people should be given a common sense test before they're allowed into positions of power

Might want to give them a drug test too.