Participation trophies for children in sports may be banned in US state
Three US Republican state senators want to ban trophies being given out in youth sports to people “based solely on their participation”.
A North Carolina General Assembly bill states that awards should only be presented to children based on “identified performance achievements”.
The proposed ban would apply to government-run youth sports leagues, but still needs support from the state senate to become law.
However, some parents said the bill was simply “deflecting” from more important issues, such as the safety of pupils in the wake of the school shooting in Nashville last month which saw six people killed, including three nine-year-old children.
The Eliminate Participation Trophies bill is sponsored by state senators Timothy Moffitt, Eddie Settle and Bobby Hanig.
Mr Hanig told the Queen City News (QCN) that participation trophies teach children to “just be OK”.
He said: “When kids are growing up they’re being taught it’s okay to just be OK. You don’t have to be the best.”
North Carolina state representative Deb Butler led criticism of the bill, telling the Asheville Citizen Times the proposals were a “colossal waste of time”.
Some parents told the QCN there were bigger issues to be tackling at the moment.
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“It’s not logical,” said one parent. “That’s not talking about the issues, that’s deterring from the conversation. That’s deflecting”.
Debates have been continuing in the US over the safety of students at schools after the deadly Covenant School rampage in Nashville became the latest in a long list of school shootings in the country.
