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♦ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2008
OPINION
Competition celebrates achievement
Removing distinctions in performance doesn’t do children any favors
Sometimes I just have to shake
my head.
That was my reaction when I
read that the British Football (or soc
cer in our case) Association laws do not
allow the results of children’s games
to be published in th s paper and some
leagues have banned trophies lest the
young players become too competi
tive. One coach was reprimanded when
his league-winning team was photo
graphed with their trophy and their
picture was put in the paper.
One of my favorite movies is the ani
mated Pixar film “The Incredibles.”
It’s the story of a family of super
heroes who must live amongst the
normal population without disclosing
their special powers.
In one scene, the son “Dash” (who
can run at lightning speed) is pleading
with his mom to let him play sports.
She denies his request saying they
have to be like everyone else. “Dad
always said our powers were nothing
to be ashamed of. Our powers made us
special,” he says. “Everyone’s special,
Dash,” his mom sighs. Frustrated he
responds, “Which is another way of
saying no one is.”
This idea that competition is a bad
thing is nothing new. We’ve heard
about schools banning dodgeball, tag
and even grades to prevent kids from
getting their feelings hurt. Alfie Kohh,
one of the biggest advocates against
competition, calls it “inherently
destructive.” “Competition is actually
destructive to children’s self-esteem,”
he writes. “It interferes with learning,
sabotages relationship and isn’t neces
sary for a good time.”
Get real, or at least be balanced.
A distinction can be made between
healthy and unhealthy competition.
Unhealthy competition is bad because
it ties worth to performance and push
es kids to win at all costs. But healthy
competition is good because it cele
brates achievement. It makes us strive
for something better.
Removing distinctions in perfor
mance doesn’t do children any favors.
For kids who excel, it can stifle motiva-
“...That reminds me. Did you see
the latest state revenue numbers?"
How ‘bout the Big Brunswick Stew Jig?
Hey, y’all,
I ‘predate all y’all askin’
‘bout me las’ week. Me an’
the boys was down in Dooly County
havin’ a summit with a buncha our
kinfolks’ ‘bout how we gon’ fight back
this year.
What I mean is that we ain’t gon’
take that Big Pig Jig layin’ down this
time aroun’. We have had all we gon’
take of havin’ our kinfolks covered
with sauce and cooked. An’ it don’t
matter how good the sauce is.
We done sent out word an’ we got
hogs cornin’ from all over the place,
an’ I’m talkin’ ‘bout wild swamp hogs.
Some of them hogs from down aroun’
the Ocmulgee is twict as big as me an’
the boys put together and they got
tusks, too.
Remember that bull named Satan
what got loost at the fair last year?
We done hired him as a consultant.
He said first thing is we gotta be is
bullet proof.
So we makin’ special suits outa hub
caps and duck tape, plus we plannin’
to borry some of them motorcycles
what’s been named after us, an they’s
gone be ‘bout 50 bullet-proof armored
hogs on the hoof an’ a dozen ridin’
Randy
Hicks
' Columnist
Georgia Family Council
tion. And if we suppress motivation we
suppress accomplishment. Trying to
make everyone feel special really just
makes everyone feel average.
On the other hand, leaving children
with the false impression that they are
good at something when they aren’t is
setting them up for failure. The “real
world” can be pretty unforgiving when
it comes to performance. Employers
aren’t looking for ways make appli
cants feel special; they are looking for
workers who can get the job done.
The same is true for higher educa
tion. If you don’t make the grade, you
don’t get in.
Reacting to the decision to once upon
a time remove competitive sports from
schools in Britain, current British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown admit
ted that it was a “tragic mistake.” “We
want to encourage competitive sports
in schools, not the ‘medals for all’ cul
ture we have seen in previous years ...
It was wrong because it doesn’t work.
In sport you get better by challenging
yourself against other people.”
The key to a healthy self image is
having an accurate one. A good self
image is not one where a kid thinks he
is good at something when he really
isn’t. That’s a false self image.
Without a doubt, I believe that every
one is special on a fundamental level.
We all have inherent dignity and worth.
But I also believe that what makes one
person special isn’t necessarily what
makes someone else special. We are all
better at some things and not so good
at others.
Frankly, I’d love to be playing in the
NFL right now, but that’s not going
to happen. As special as I think I am,
I’m not as special on a football field as
Porky's
Ponderings
porky@evansnewspapers.com
motorcycles an’ all of us squealin’ an’
snortin’, an’ we gone tear straight
through that Big Pig Jig Village when
them barbecue cooks leas’ expeck it.
We gon’ see whose wearin’ the sauce
by the time it’s over.
The reason I’m ‘splainin’ this in
advance is to give any of them what’s
readin’ it, includin’ Danny Evans,
one last chanct. They still got time
to back down and give up they hog
killin’ ways, and maybe have a Big
Brunswick Stew Jig instead.
Thing ‘bout Brunswick Stew is don’t
nobody know what’s in it anyways.
You just gotta git a buncha corn an’
a buncha materses an’ taterses, an
a buncha unjuns, an’ maybe some
leftover squash casserole an’ some
ketchup an’ ‘bout two-three dozen
squirls if you can shoot ‘em.
Peyton Manning. But there are things
that I do well. And I’ve learned along
the way where to focus my energy.
Of course, there is nothing wrong
with rewarding effort. Hard work
and improvement should always be
acknowledged. But even so, we reward
effort differently than we reward suc
cess. Not all accomplishments are
equal.
It’s important to make clear that just
because a child doesn’t win doesn’t
mean he or she isn’t special. While we
learn greatly from positive reinforce
ment, we’ll not last in the real world if
we can’t learn from failure and disap
pointment too. There is a redeeming
element to falling short because it
reveals something about us, but that
doesn’t diminish our worth as an indi
vidual.
Failure and disappointment can
teach some useful lessons. Speaking
of the thousands of experiments he
conducted in the invention of the light
bulb, Thomas Edison famously said, “I
have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000
ways that won’t work.”
Failure can show us where more
effort is needed to do better next time.
It can show us that an activity (sport
or subject) is not something we excel
at doing. There is value in discovering
things that we don’t do Well, just as
there is value in discovering what we
do well.
Are there unhealthy expressions of
competition? Absolutely. Unfortunately
I’ve seen innumerable examples of it.
When parents compel their kids to par
ticipate in activities like sports or pag
eants where winning is the only goal.
Children should never feel like their
inherent worth is bound up in how
they perform. Parents should never
make their child feel as though their
approval and love depends on how well
they perform. Kids need to feel uncon
ditional love from mom and dad at all
times, and they need encouragement
along the way.
Healthy competition is good. Reward
is good. Even failure is good when
See HICKS, page XX
They’s a whole buncha squirls up in
them downtown trees, in case any of
y’all want help shakin’ ‘em loose.
If y’all don’t like squirl, 80-Diddley
says he had some over in Macon
County what was made with owl an’
okra.
Thing is that you put in three four
cups of hot sauce an’ cook it a good
long time, an’ they could be a live
snappin’ turtle swimmin’ in it an’
nobody wudden nobody know the dif
ference.
Or they could have a chicken pie
contest. I ain’t persnly got nuthin
against chickens but it is a scientific
sack they don’t notice if they heads is
removed.
You ain’t never heard of no chicken
writin’ a colyum, have you? That’s
because they ain’t got no brains. An
you can buy ‘em already kilt and they
prolly come from China and don’t
have no kinfolks aroun’ here, but
even if they did, bein’ stampeded by
a buncha chickens ain’t nuthin’ like
being stampeded like a buncha armor
plated hogs.
So them barbecuers have got a
choice. I hppe for they own sakes that
they take heed.
t
"One voice con moke a difference"
Perry sends strong message;
the buzz on Walker's Pond.
Some months back the Warner Robins City
Council sent a strong message. It said: Anyone
caught selling alcohol to a minor would pay
dearly. In this case the establishment and the
person who had gotten caught had all kinds of
character witnesses. It even had a recommenda
tion from the officer who had been an integral part
of the undercover operation/investigation that the
establishment just be put on probation.
“No sir,” the Warner Robins City Council said
as one. “That just won’t do. If you break the law
you will pay.” Then they went on to suspend the
establishment’s license for 30 days.
Perry City Council took a similar - maybe even
bigger - stand this past week.
Despite the law, despite the fact establishment’s
were being busted for having gaming machines
involved in gambling (a couple of those have
been stories on our front in the past year or two),
they had apparently not gotten the message.
So Perry made it loud and clear: If you get caught
with gaming machines or machines involved in
gambling or even if you have gaming machines
that are not reported to the city (more than likely
based on: Why would you not report them if not
for the fact you more than likely intend on using
them for gambling), you will pay.
In this case by having their alcohol license sus
pended for a year. Can you hear them now?
Once it was a corn field. Then it was made into
a racetrack. Later it became a pond - even had
its own restaurant - and today it, Walker’s Pond,
is: Mosquito heaven.
Or at least that’s how one resident in that area
describes it.
“The pond is full of water lillies, the place is all
grown up and unkept,” the resident writes. “The
place is fenced in but the fence is in poor condi
tion. It is a breeding ground (for the aforemen
tioned mosquitoes).”
We know the pond is not owned by the city -
the mayor and his brother, however - but the city
does have code enforcement. Surely there is a
section that governs this.
Mosquitoes, and the threat of West Nile Virus
- not to mention other diseases they carry - are
not something we want to let our guard
See BUZZ, page
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Drilling Marshall - right here, right
now - on his voting record
A current political ad shows Jim Marshall in front of a
truck at a gas station saying that we should be drilling
for oil. What? .
Fellow voters, does he think we are too dumb to
See LETTER, page 6.4
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