COOPERATION VS.

COMPETITION
Question
1. Is competition over-emphasized in American Society? Why? What are the advantages of
such a competitive attitude? What are the disadvantages?
2. Identify situations that you have observed in which competition has actually interfered with
people achieving a goal. Is competition emphasized in children? What recommendations would
you make to parents regarding their child's participation in soccer, baseball, etc.?
Answer
Competition is a big part in American Society. Speaking from personal experience and
knowing people who come from large families, everything they did was a competition and I see
that in many other families as well. Everything in America is a competition and you see it
everywhere you go. You see it on television shows for food competitions, singing, and dancing.
Also in sports like the NFL, NBA, and the Olympics. In your job, trying to get the promotion
over the other guy, or making the most sales. America rewards those who compete in society,
although the competition isn’t always fair. Competition is over-emphasized in American society
due to our history as a nation. The competition between other nations to become a powerhouse
has driven us to the space wars as well as the development of atomic weapons. Acts like these
are why our nation developed into something where it has become part of our culture. We have
even created sayings such as “ the early bird gets the worm” as a reference to competing with
others to be successful and reap the benefits.
America's competitive nature pushes people to their limits all the time and that is what
drives people to make these new discoveries or to create new tools that allow us to be successful
as a nation and as individuals. But the constant pressure to achieve these new standards causes a
lot of stress on individuals and can, instead of bringing everyone together as a society, cause
separation. This puts a lot of pressure on individuals and that can cause strain on relationships.
There are many examples of when competition has interfered with achieving a goal,
especially when it comes working with groups. Often times one persons overly competitive goal
actually hinders the group project and it causes complications in obtaining what they are aiming
for. You see this in team sports when one person's competitive nature to be the best causes them
to become selfish and not focus on the task at hand. This actually hurts the team in the goal to
win the game. I have also seen multiple times when a person thinks it is a race to complete their
work before another person. They were too focused on being better and getting done faster than
the other person and that competitive nature actually lead them to getting a bad score and not
understanding the material very well because they wanted to be first.
Competition is definitely emphasized in kids. From the moment kids are born the parents
are instilling that competitive nature. They compare their kids to others and say things like “Well
my kid starting walking before yours.” It continues as they get older too. “Well my kid got
accepted into this amazing college and did this, this, and this.” Even in PE as a kid it's always
who is the fastest, who can do more push ups or sit ups. It continues at home when they are
watching TV with all these competitive reality TV shows and sports channels. This competitive
nature becomes programed into them.
 When it comes to kids participating in sports or any other competitive program I would
say make sure it is something your kid wants to do. “Children everywhere want to do what the
adults do…” ( Berger, 2016, p 241). Kids will do what their parents want them to do or what
they seem excited about. You shouldn’t force your kid to play any sports but you should make
sure that they find something of their interest or encourage them to try and do their best. You
have to make sure that the child has fun while doing so and that it isn’t something that is
stressful.

Reference List

Berger, K. S. (2016). ​Invitation to the life span​ (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.