I think that competition is successful to having a bright and competitive life. Everyone competes for something, whether that be a job opportunity at a big firm, a promotion, or even competing for food and resources in the world where Homo sapiens hunted and gathered for food. Parents should encourage competition among children at an early age to help them grow up into a world that thrives on competition. At an early age the child can be molded into a person that knows sportsmanship, but also can apply himself to do train/study/work harder enough to achieve the goals that he wants to accomplish. We discussed this in our UF 100 class as well. But when we discussed it was more about should people be given participation ribbons for just showing up to an event? I throughout that in certain cases such as a marathon that even completing such a task deserves some show of accomplishment. Yet when kids are given ribbons for just showing up and not winning say, a soccer tournament, it teaches them that just showing up is enough. Where in the real world it is the opposite. In this economy where some business are still recovering from the economic downturn of 2008 you will have so many people gunning for your job, that if you don’t make a clear impression that you would do anything to get said job that you are nothing but words on paper. Of course children should compete in competitive sports to make sure that they know the difference between losing, and trying your hardest and winning.