December 2018: My very first Sports Day event at our school #aurobindovidhyalaya as a Principal and I just let the events happen as they’ve happened in the past. Students participated in various events and we gave medals and certificates to the top three. However, it so happened that all the other kids also got an “appreciation medal”. Post this event, I had a discussion with the teachers to understand the need for all children to get medals. What thought process are we encouraging in both the child who has earned a medal by exhibiting a specific skill/talent and the child who was handed a similar medal just like that …Based on the discussion that followed, we decided against participation medals for all kids. Not preparing for the real-world experiences of winning and losing, devaluing achievement, and missing the opportunity to teach valuable lessons like resistance, grit, etc., were some of the reasons for the vote against it. I am completely convinced that grade students don’t need participation medals, but for kids 3-5 years old, every year, I keep revisiting the debate myself as to what is right.
Fast forward to 2023, I am thinking about whether these students even need to compete in these events. When their natural instinct is to collaborate and help others do well, I don’t think it’s right for us to tell them to “do better than others”. Why not have collaborative games rather than competitive races? What is the need for us to instill this sense of competitiveness at such a young age?
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