Mom Goes Ballistic When Her Kid Doesn't Win Award At School Event
All hell has broken loose on TikTok over an incident at a Georgia elementary school event where a mom went nuts reportedly after her son didn't win an end-of-the-year award.
According to the video uploader who goes by Netriss on TikTok, the mom got mad because her son "ain't get an award" at the first grade event in Decatur, GA.
"She literally started out of nowhere, the principal was giving his final remarks… telling the kids to read over the summer 😂😂😂😂😂.. i do not know if he actually was supposed to get one," Netriss added.
Let's go to the meltdown:
In follow-up TikTok videos, Netriss clarifies that event invites were sent to parents of children who were going to receive an award. "This is first grade. It's not that serious," Netriss reminded her viewers. "If you truly cared about your child's education, you would've had that discussion with the teacher, not the principal because the teacher is the one who put the grades in, not the principal."
Netriss continues by saying she watched her own video back and came to the conclusion that the ballistic mom is mad that the boy's report card said he was supposed to get an award, but he didn't.
"I don't know," a cautious Netriss responded. "But then again, her invite might've got lost in the mail."
Let's break this down a little bit like John Madden breaking down a defense back in the day:
- First grade awards ceremonies are ridiculous, just like preschool graduations are ridiculous, as are 8th grade graduations, etc. End first grade awards ceremonies. The kids will never remember the events and the parents are completely stressed out over this stuff.
- Pieces of paper to say your kid did something great in first grade are ridiculous. Parents should get a report card and maybe a one-paragraph note from a teacher saying that the child is on the right path.
- We should also ban award ceremonies for kids doing their jobs. Hey kids, you know who doesn't get an awards ceremony for doing their jobs year in and year out? Us parents. Suck it up.
- Let's make this all easier. The school should throw a couple of bucks into the kids' Roblox accounts. Save the paper. Buy them virtual goods on a video game. Put in on the taxpayer's bill.
- I'm also for banning medals for kids who participate in this thing they call Soccer Shots during preschool and at daycare centers. New parents: Don't get sucked in. Your kid will not develop into Messi from daycare soccer that lasts like 20 minutes. Your kid will be dejected, but he/she will get over it. Save your money. Buy the kid a soccer ball to kick around your own yard.
- And if we're going to do these awards shows because too many parents would be screaming at the principal, I have to agree with Des on this one. "I want my kids to attend regardless of an award or not… and if they are upset that they don’t get one I tell them work harder next year. Gotta beat the best to be the best," she wrote on TikTok.
- And finally….
During an interview with Jason Feifer, the host of the "Build for Tomorrow" podcast, Dan Gould, a sports psychologist and director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports, argues that the boom of participation trophies really started in the 1950s, but tamped up in the 1960s and 1970s as parents "became overly concerned with the effects of competition on kids."
Researchers who have combed through newspaper archives, Feifer says, found a reference to participation trophy used in a negative way dating back to 1993. A softball coach told a reporter that the team has "enough participation trophies. Now we'd like to get a place trophy."
Do participation trophies work?
"If you took that research, it shows that giving people trophies for what they already viewed as sort of intrinsically motivating, won't necessarily increase their motivation, it can actually decrease it if they feel like they're getting bought," Gould argues.
Who's to blame for what we're seeing where parents lose it when their kids don't get a first grade award? What's your experience like with participation trophies? Don't they have an adverse effect? Fire away.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com