Effects of Competition on Children's Mental Health Essay Sample

Everyone has a competitive spirit inside them. That spirit motivates us to achieve our goals, but it is not necessary for success. Competition can set us back instead of moving us forward, which is why competition is not necessary for success. 

Competition can be destructive to children's self-esteem, it interferes with learning, sabotages relationships, and isn't necessary to have a good time. In a competitive culture, a child is told that it isn’t enough to be good, but that they must triumph over others. Success is normally defined as a victory, even though these are two very different things. Even when the child manages to win, the whole affair, psychologically speaking, becomes a vicious cycle. They start to get into the mindset that everything is a competition, and that they have to win. The more they compete, the more they need to compete to feel good about themselves. 

When someone accomplishes a goal that they've set out to accomplish, they feel very successful because of that they achieved. For example, when I was in intermediate school, I made it my goal to learn a musical instrument and make the top band with my friends. The instrument I chose is the oboe, and I would spend everyday practicing to get better. When the time came to move on to middle school, they let the band students know what band they got to perform with the following year. I was chosen to be in the top band. I was thrilled when they told me, and I felt very successful because I achieved my goal. Because I felt so proud, I chose to keep my music choice going and kept on making new goals for me to accomplish. 

Competition may seem like it is needed to make someone feel like they accomplished something, but it has a negative impact on mental health and relationships in the future. Competition is not necessary for one to be successful because there are so many different ways to be successful.