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Re: Pinewood Derby Winning
Lynn Whited (whited@ASTROSUN.TN.CORNELL.EDU)
Thu, 30 Jun 1994 09:42:19 EDT
Rex,
As a mother of one child who shrinks from competition and one who
thrives on it (both girls), I don't think that it is parental influence that
determines the competitive spirit in a child. But I do believe the way a
parent "reacts" to it can make a difference. My oldest dislikes competition
so much that she doesn't want to be in band (although she enjoys playing
flute) because she doesn't want to compete for the chairs. For the last
5 years it has been driving me crazy and worrying me about what will happen
to her in the future...ie, job hunting, career advancing, college, grad
school. We have kept encouraging her to compete anyway, getting her to
understand that not everyone wins. There are more losers than winners. We
have also been trying to make her understand that there is a certain amount
of competition in life, and if she shrinks from it all she will never attain
the goals in life she wants. This year we finally found the key. EVERY
child has some 'hidden' love. Find it, and worries about competition will go
out the window. My oldest daughter started riding horses this year. When her
instructor started talking about taking her to local 4H competitions I was
sure that would be the end of her horseback riding. I asked the instructor
to play down the competition so that my daughter wouldn't back out before she
even got there. She came home from her first competition so excited and
happy, telling us how much fun she had. She came home with 1 participation
riboon, 2 5th places, 1 4th place, and 1 3rd place! Since then she has
brought home many more ribbons...even one reserve champion (2nd place overall).
Now that she is enjoying the competition in horsemanship, I have noticed that
she has started to more competitive in other areas of her life.
Getting to the point of this rambling, YES there needs to be
acknowledgement of the winners...who knows it may be just the push one shy
competitor needs to learn competition isn't such a bad thing. The others need
to also learn that winning isn't everything. I think Don's idea of making
sure every cub gets some kind of acknowledgement is a good idea. AS LONG as
the winners get some sort of extra acknowledgement.
Lynn
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
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