Prize giving at primary schools

When I was at school we didn't have prize givings, not until I got to secondary school.
So I was surprised (but initially not unpleasantly) when I would read in the newsletters from TLM's primary and intermediate schools about end of year prize giving.

Then I would be slightly disappointed that TLM never got any prizes - because she is brilliant. At writing, designing and drawing greeting cards, making comics and beating the boy at computer games. And probably other stuff too. When I saw who did get the prizes, it looked like sportiness was an important selection criteria so I left it at that.

So recently in the news I read that an Auckland primary school decided to do away with prize giving. And lots of people responded by saying it was PC gone mad, cosseting our kids, discourage kids from aiming for excellence etc etc.

Now I'm not against kids competing to win, or kids working hard at something to reach a goal.

But you know what? I reckon most prizes go to kids with natural talent, who didn't have to work particularly hard to get there.

I saw a study about rewarding kids for being clever vs rewarding kids for trying hard. And the kids who were rewarded for trying hard kept trying hard - so they kept improving. But the kids who were rewarded for being clever either slacked off ('cos they are clever) or were crushed by the self-imposed pressure of needing to stay that way.

And here's another thing. If there are 100 kids and only 10 of them get a prize but you don't, then it's no biggie because clearly you had to be something special to get a prize and if you didn't then you're in good company. But if there are 100 kids and 80 of them get a prize but you don't, then wouldn't you feel really shit? Something like this happened to TLM at the last year of her primary school. Needless to say we haven't bothered to attend those events since.