We’re going to lose in life…why the experience of defeat and disappointment is actually a good thing, as opposed to the modern attitude that no one should be stigmatized as a loser (Press Pros Feature Photos)
If you’ve ever questioned the value of sports and competition, and lessons learned by adolescents that seem to follow them through life…consider the present day comparison of kids who’ve learned tolerance for each other, and adults who haven’t.
On a grim weekend where the world is on the verge of implosion in the Middle East, and where the weary process of a political campaign tears apart our own country, I’m reminded by watching the Olympics of just how important athletic competition is to the overall mental and psychological state of humanity.
Young people, with gold medals, future notoriety, and financial security for the rest of their lives on the line…react better in the face of failure than the adults who claim ‘The Golden Rule’ as the manual for mankind living together.
And I address this now on the eve of another adolescent sports season because I personally get to observe, and hear, the difference of behavior on the court (or field), and in the stands.
I write about it, too, because there are still those out there who question if the money spent in our schools to include sports competition as an integral part of overall educational process isn’t something we could do without…for the sake of tightening our belts (and budgets).
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I’ll be frank. The kids are actually better than the adults in today’s world, the very people given the responsibility of shaping and guiding their future.
How bad is it? Abhorrent!
When did it start? Long before 2008. I’ve watched adults be ejected from high school basketball games for decades over behavior unbecoming to society at large…while we stress sportsmanship to the point of it being taken for granted.
How bad is it? There’s not a year that goes by without an incident of fights and gunshots at athletic events. And not by the athletes, themselves, but by the adults who live vicariously through what happens on the court.
How bad can it get?
Well, it’s obviously come to the extreme when we cheer the assassination attempt of public figures.
When we aren’t moved by attempts to eradicate an entire race for the sheer sake of hatred.
When we stand by as our cities and institutions are demolished for the sake of individuals, over the sovereign sake of our country…which, by the way, is both recognized and despised for being the best in the world, and in every respect you can name. The world would laugh at John F. Kennedy now for his famous inaugural quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
As adults we share that hatred on social media…because we can. The first amendment guarantees you the right. But that doesn’t mean you should exercise it for the sake of fanning the flame. And then we question why kids have grown to bully and extort each other to unimaginable acts. I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing that those who do have never known a sanctioned competitive moment in their life.
We’re going to lose in life. There will be times when things don’t go our way. There will be times when the emotions of politics and religion become uglier than the issues they try to mitigate.
Editor and publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and Buckeyes baseball for Press Pros Magazine.
But we’ve learned nothing in progressive process of society if we haven’t learned by now what grandmothers have taught us for years. If you don’t have something good to say…then say nothing at all. And that’s a learned behavior, and not one with which we’re born.
It’s why the money we spend on sports and competition matters. It’s why the experience of defeat and disappointment is actually a good thing…as opposed to the modern attitude that no one should be stigmatized as a loser – that you learn just as much when you’re recognized for something you didn’t earn.
That’s obviously not true. Observe the behavior of athletes at the Olympics for the next two weeks. Consider how American gymnast and gold medal hopeful Brody Malone reacted to his own failure on the world’s biggest stage – how he didn’t blame someone else.
And how he didn’t invoke racism.
How he resisted the temptation of making a fool of himself on Facebook. He’s a winner in my book.
An example…of kids being better than the adults!
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