My first experience with these little badges came when I was part of the swim team. My sister and I both competed on one together. I wasn't quite as good as she was, so I would often get participation awards. But even back then, I thought they were stupid. No point value, no acknowledgement of effort, not even an actual award color. A participation award basically amounts to the fact that you showed up and walked through the door, not that you actually DID anything.
So why even bother with these in the first place? I'll tell you why. They're a indicator of the increasing emphasis our culture has placed on feelings. What's that, you didn't do well enough to earn any points? It's okay, at least you tried. Didn't get the audition you've been practicing for for months? It's okay, at least you tried. Didn't get that promotion at work even though you've been going for 80 hour weeks? It's okay, at least you tried. While this may sound perfectly reasonable on paper, there's an unfortunate undercurrent to this type of thinking. Not only does it cheapen the work of the people who did actually succeed, but it also causes people to prioritize effort over actual results. People become so desperate to make sure everyone is happy, that they try and keep everyone exactly the same. As a result, genuinely talented people get overlooked or forced downward, and the more mediocre people get deluded into believing that they're more talented than they actually are, leaving the latter unprepared to deal with their inadequacies when they inevitably arise. Unfortunately, we live in a world where simply DOING WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO is worthy of the highest praise.
To use a quote from The Incredibles, "It's not a graduation. He is moving from the fourth grade to the fifth grade. They keep coming up with new ways to celebrate mediocrity..."
We need to acknowledge that not everyone is good at everything. I can admit right now that there are people out there that would utterly steamroll me when it comes to my Achilles Heel mathematics. And because I've been writing for more than a decade by this point, there are people out there that I would utterly steamroll in terms of grammar and composition. And that's okay.
Not everyone is good at everything. But everyone is good at something. But if everyone has to be good at everything, then no one will be the best at anything. And I think that's a little more important than not hurting someone's feelings.
You hit the nail on the head. Our culture has become so "PC" that no one can fail. Sometimes I just want to scream! School was hard for me and I always was at the bottom of the credit page. But, you know what? It made me stronger because my Dad was always there to pick me up. He was so encouraging with just the right words. I think about that when I teach a child and they just are, like me, at the bottom. It is much like sensitivity training I think.