Steelers' James Harrison Gives Back Sons' Participation Trophies

[jimnyc]

And I don't care what anyone says, this was a GREAT decision. I'm tired of all the PC and hand holding crap. Kids will survive, trust me. We never got them growing up. The champs, and then 2nd and 3rd place got them, the rest were shit out of luck. Pretty soon these nitwits are going to want to give out trophies to parents, since they had to come all the time too. :rolleyes:

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Pittsburgh Steelers’ star James Harrison is one of the toughest linebackers in the NFL, known for his explosive play.

And when it comes to tackling parenthood, the veteran player is proving he is just as fierce.

Harrison, 37, revealed on Instagram this weekend that he had taken back the trophies his two young sons received for just participating in sports.

"While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy,” Harrison captioned a photo of his sons’ student-athlete trophies. “I’m not about to raise two boys to be men by making them believe that they are entitled to something just because they tried their best. Cause sometimes your best is not enough, and that should drive you to want to do better...not cry and whine until somebody gives you something to shut u up and keep you happy.”

Harrison ended his post with the hashtag #harrisonfamilyvalues.

While most commenters agreed with Harrison’s post, writing comments such as, “Kids today don’t know what the reward for hard work is,” others disagreed.

“You’re their dad and it’s your decision, but I couldn’t disagree more,” one commenter wrote

Harrison, a two-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Pro Bowl player, frequently posts photos and videos of his own workouts on his Instagram page, along with photos of himself with his sons.

A parenting expert says the responses to Harrison’s post show there is no one solution for how to handle praise and children.

“For some children participation is a struggle, so getting a participation trophy is important,” said Robyn Silverman, a child development specialist. “For other children, they simply need to learn sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.”

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[gabosaurus]

You want to know what is even worse than "participation trophies?"
There are now organizations that offer that they term "Fun, Fair Sports" leagues. They teach you the rules and play the games, but they don't keep score. When you score or make a good play, everyone on both teams applauds. So no one supposedly feels bad.
And no one learns anything about life.

[Jeff]

I can't stand when they do this, my boys have been on teams where the coach wants the parents to chip in to buy the kids trophies, hell I paid plenty just for them to play, that should be enough. If they win the series and get a trophy then they well cherish it, give each kid a trophy and it isn't anything of importance to them, teaches them zilch.

Gabby the little league my boys play in does that scoreless trash, but the kids are like 4 ( actually 4-6 ) hell they don't know if they won or not any way, ask anyone of them the score at the end of the game ( baseball now ) and they will tell you a million to nothing. I really don't have a issue with it at that age, these kids don't care if they win or loose, they are just having fun and hopefully learning the game. What does bother me at these games is the parents keeping score and then arguing, my God half of the kids hit off of a tee and they all hit it right back to the pitcher , who is usually the best kid on the team, he will usually get the ball after the batter reaches first ( if he run to the right base :laugh: ) yea at this age let the kids all think they won, Then they go to the Cub league ( 7 and 8) here they keep score but still give the kids extra's, such as if they can't hit after four swings they will let them hit off of a tee, it does help some kids and at this age they are still learning fundamentals, but they do keep score. Then they go to the minor league ( 9 and 10 ) here it gets more competitive, Major league is where it really kicks in though, the 11 and 12 year old, by now they dang well better realize there is one winner, but at the youngest age group I don't mind them playing that way.

[fj1200]

And no one learns anything about life.

Not sure if you're serious or not but the kids know who wins or loses... or at least think they do; their math skills are subject.