A man named Brett called the Millennial generation a bunch of idiots, proud of participation rewards and easily triggered by the workings of everyday life. I would like to proceed by refuting this idea and replacing it with my interpretation of what I think our generation represents. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay We are much more culturally sensitive than ever, we were taught to be confident and ambitious in our youth, and we are learning ways to understand the world better, go to school rather than join the army, and do much better things than fight in a war we don't believe in. Brave isn't what it used to be, or at least our idea of ​​Brave isn't singular for its meaning of joining the army as it was in the 1950s but, to come out as gay in a world that tries to throw stones at you because you are different, to live every day as the person you want to be and not the person society has molded you into, is to be a young single mother trying to raise her son with everything he deserves by working strenuous hours and still being consistent enough at the end of the night to read your child a bedtime story. We have adapted to the times and it just seems to me that this man is having some difficulty shedding his skin. We are not idiots, we are adapting to the environment and the culture that is passed down to us, and we do it by building sensitivity and trust. Some say the guarantee of a trophy even if you walked the entire race to the finish line and are told you did a great job while being handed a little plastic trophy with your name on it for everyone to hear included is simply unrealistic. Getting a participation trophy doesn't really suit our society, as we become more and more competitive every year and you can't teach kids that they will always win or that they are all the same because, let's be honest, we are a step away from equality. All we are taught from a young age is to properly transform ourselves into functioning adults when that time comes, we are subtly taught the ways of our society, so teaching children that they don't have to work hard for anything is unreasonable and they will find themselves in a world of pain once they realize that's not how the world works. Participation rewards that replace actual competition do not teach children valuable life lessons that you will have to work, try, and try again to be the best you want to be, participation rewards breed laziness. To counteract this, I believe participation rewards make a difference. for example, a ribbon for first or second place, it is encouraging, it gives confidence in what you are doing, like a pat on the back for having done a good job, it makes you want to keep going. Considering how temperamental kids are, let's say Mikey gets a last-place ribbon in third grade in his race and after that gets incredibly discouraged and quits the sport altogether. Children don't always have parents who support them and continue to push them forward after losing a competition, and the idea forms in their heads that they are simply not good at sports and will never be able to improve. Rather, have the knowledge that they can improve, that if they work hard they can get first place, but this is not realistic because it is not a thought that comes to their mind unless someone like a parent puts it there. For many young people it is not a thought that is realized until maturity, it is a growth mentality like studentsfirst-year college students who didn't do very well in high school because they never studied studying for the first time and seeing an improvement in their grades, because they just grasped the idea that if I work to be better, I will be better. Some need that extra push where they can get it, they need to be encouraged to stay true to what they are passionate about and not give up after failing. Especially now with technology dominating our youth today, keeping them out with their participation ribbons might not be a bad idea. The whole concept of the participation ribbon also nurtures a child's confidence and ambition, furthermore, as this grows over time. The root of Brett's "problem" with the characteristics of an entire generation lies with young people and how they have been shaped. . These participation ribbons could also be said to have a lasting effect on a child's life as they transition into adulthood, as they experienced constant reassurance in their outlets such as music or sports. Simply engaging in extracurricular activities has a proven beneficial impact on a child's life, simply playing an instrument can increase memory and math skills, enrich coordination, improve reading and coordination skills, and teaches perseverance and creates a sense of achievement, says the Peterson Family Foundation. When you have achieved, gain the ambition to achieve again. Like a snowball, success leads to confidence, and confidence gives you the ability to be your individualistic self. Encouragement in our youth to stand up for what we believe in, to also stand out from the crowd, and to do something different with our time than anyone else. Kids raised this way have the ability to transform into the most influential people in the world, those who can run countries, lead revolutions and make changes for the better in our world, confidence and ambition are nothing without each other. other. Ambition leads us to further our education, to pursue what we desire to know and be informed. Education is valued more than ever, we live in a time where a college degree is considered equivalent to a high school diploma. And where only those with the most ambitions will be able to create a cycle of competition. This is our society, nothing like before as we are an evolved version of what became before us. We spend less time encouraging war than trying to understand it, trying to find solutions, something we have refused to do for decades, to look at the other side and accept our differences without refuting them. We are studying the culture rather than trying to exterminate it when we disagree. Redefining concepts that we have always accepted as concrete, while courageous can mean enlisting in the army, accepting one's destiny of death for the institution, courageous is also many other things including the attempt to fight that war in the name of peace, our meaning of brave and the actions it embodies are different than in the past, but that's how time, culture and societies work, we change and adapt. We will never be like the generations before us, we live in a time with greater access to incredible technology, we take silly selfies with our friends with ridiculous filters, we have social media rebellions in the form of hashtags, we give equal ability and choice to boys and girls who want to wear a dress or play with action figures, and we proudly hand out participation prizes attracting overwhelming standards that simply cannot be met by an 8-year-old playing little league soccer, and instead of satisfying those.