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Parents who gift and praise their kids for “trying hard” and getting “2nd,” “3rd,” or even when they lose still reward them because they tried their best—I’ve seen parents whose kids struggle in school, get Bs and Cs, and are rewarded because they “tried” hard. No, a “B” is not an A; a C is not an A. If you got a B, then you have failed. If you’re participating in a competition and you don’t get 1st place, then you are a loser. What do you call someone who loses? A loser. Your kids should be rewarded when they win, when they get all As, when they get first place, etc.—when they are winners, not losers.

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[-] Shellofbiomatter@lemmus.org 1 points 22 hours ago

Gotta encourage kids to try again. To become better.

Though yeah, second place is the first loser, but I wouldn't only limit it to kids. Many competitions have this weird participation trophy thing.
"Congratulations, you we're 9673 of 10000, here's a medal".
That's like mocking and devaluing the effort of those who actually did put in the effort to come first. It's celebrating mediocrity and lazyness.

this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
-15 points (35.8% liked)

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