I was listening to the morning radio show a few days back and heard a couple interesting things. They always bring up random news headlines and here are a couple I heard:
* School eliminates whistles at recess and gym because they are "too aggressive"
* High school eliminates the Valedictorian status
(Now, I read some of the articles on the Valedictorian issue and some has to do with online classes and transfers and being unable to fairly weight certain grades to make it even across the board. But some seem to think it's so those at the bottom of the class aren't offended, and that they should recognize more than just the top 2 students.)
I heard about these stories the day after my daughter tried out for the 8U All-Star softball team. This is only her second year played softball. Last year, we didn't try out for All-Stars as I just wanted her to experience the sport and see if she really liked it.
Well, she loves it, so this year I decided to let her tryout. We talked about how tryouts work (you have to hit, throw, catch, field and run while the coaches watch - and how they choose the "best" players to make the team.)
Only 12.
We talked about how cool it would be if she made it, but when more than 12 girls tryout, there will be some who don't make the team. And if you don't make it, that's ok. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. Sometimes in life you get picked/win/awarded, and there's many times you won't. And in the end, we learn what we need to improve on and move forward.
Well... she made the team. And I certainly don't wish that she didn't make it, but in light of the above stories, it was a fitting time to show my children some life lessons.
So while whistles may be on their way out of the school yard, and valedictorians may never get announced again, I want to always make sure my kids grow up knowing about successes and failures. That teachers/neighbors/grandparents/coaches won't always butter you up, or that they might even discipline you when necessary. That not every kids gets a trophy or a prize or an award or a ribbon or a sticker or a piece of candy.
Maybe I'm a mean mom. Maybe it's not nice of me to tell my son that "no, your team didn't win... they don't keep score yet." Or maybe I just want my kids to know that to earn something takes hard work.