How Competition can Have Negative Effects on Children
 
Competition is everywhere in the world.  While it may be almost a natural part of society today, some of the negative effects of competition on children are overlooked.
 
In most competitive events there are more of those that do not win than those who do.  Winning can have a positive effect on a child but it has been shown that losing enhances negative thoughts and feelings more than winning increases positive thoughts.  Children who fail to win in competitive situations show more feelings of unworthiness, more harmful thoughts about themselves, and decreased self-esteem.
 
Many youth oriented organizations are set up with the goal of teaching skills that are important in life and social settings.  When the competition focuses on winning, it becomes nearly impossible to teach children these skills.
 
Research has found that children in competition do not feel that they are in control of what happens to them.
 
Alfie Kohn states:  “To lose – particularly in a public event – can be psychologically detrimental even for the healthiest among us.  At best, some exceptional individuals might emerge without damage to their self-esteem, but it is difficult to see how losing can enhance it.”
 
Society, as a whole, is a competitive environment.  The common assumption is that competition creates a healthy sense of self.  Reports indicate that cooperation and compromise are more effective at building healthy self-esteem and emotional intelligence than competitive situations.  Social skills and trust in other people are also more widely noticed outside of competition.
Young Children and Competition
 
Competition is a form of measurement and comparing one person or team against another.  Self-esteem is also a measurement but as a concept of what and who we are.
 
Young children learn a lot of their self-concept from others.  Their self-esteem, in large part, comes from the people in their life and the feedback they receive.  Because of this, children often assume that trophies and ribbons are a measurement of their self-worth.
 
Accomplishing a task is not a point of joy for young children.  They are much more interested in the process that brings the result and not the result itself.  In competition, emphasis is placed on the end result.  This is very conflicting for a child during this stage of development.  Children that are free from competition are able to enjoy learning and playing and are more likely to learn from their mistakes.
 
Not all effects of competition are negative.  Competition, also, teaches valuable lessons about persevering and giving something your best effort.  We just to remember, for children, the point of competing is to have fun and to try to reduce the negative effects of competition on children.