With all the importance being placed on participation and not actual results, many of today's children are not being prepared for having to survive in the real world. My family is not a fan of this new-style of everything is OK and everyone wins despite the results. As it so happens our recent trip to the Helsinki Zoo provided a valuable lesson on how performance does matter.
We were sitting having a snack and my one-year-old dropped a cheerio. This was great news to the two seagulls who were circling around us, knowing that it was a safe bet that these two kids would at some point provide them with a snack. To that point they only gave up a cheerio and it was at my feet. So I picked it up and tossed it on the grass. They quickly raced for it.
The fastest one of course got the snack. The second fastest one got nothing.
We were sitting having a snack and my one-year-old dropped a cheerio. This was great news to the two seagulls who were circling around us, knowing that it was a safe bet that these two kids would at some point provide them with a snack. To that point they only gave up a cheerio and it was at my feet. So I picked it up and tossed it on the grass. They quickly raced for it.
The fastest one of course got the snack. The second fastest one got nothing.
It was obvious to my kids that performance does matter and that it pays to be a winner. As it is sometimes said, second place is also known as 'First Loser.'
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