Losing: The New Winning

This post was spurred by a recent commercial I saw that confused me.

Little Boy dressed in a baseball uniform: "I used to be mad when we lost, but not now, because after a loss dad takes us to Pizza Hut, so it's still a win even when we lose!"

I am willing to grant the fact that may not be what he says verbatim, but I assure you it is pretty close to the actual commercial.

This struck me as odd. You get rewarded for losing. This brings up a oddity in a similar vein; ribbons and medals for PARTICIPATING. When did the ego's of today's youth become so fragile that they can't actually lose?

I was at a tee-ball game recently and saw a kid completely whiff the ball on the tee three times. Despite is obvious failure, he still ran to first base and everyone cheered for him. That is like going to college and failing out three separate times and then the dean calls; "I know you got all F's in all of your classes three semesters in a row, but we're still going to let you take part in the Graduation ceremony.

What we are teaching our kids: that failing is just as good as passing. That the reward for working your tail off is the same reward you get if you don't. What happened to the gratification of accomplishing a feat? The great feeling of training, studying, working hard and seeing the fruits of your labor?

I'm not a parent, if I was however, I would be sure to explain to my child that the real world has winners and losers.