Competition Amongst Children
             I'm sure many of us, as children, spent countless hours playing such games as Musical Chairs, Duck-Duck-Goose, Tag, and several other "kiddy" games. Not to mention the fact that some of us even engaged in the "All-American" games of baseball, football, and basketball. Most of us enjoyed ourselves while playing these games and continued to play them over the course of our childhood years. Therefore, participating in competitive recreational activities began at an early age. So, if so many Americans liked these competitive games, why would anyone even think of getting rid of them? Yet, it's true that some people, such as Alfie Kohn, writer of Competition is Destructive, feel that competition, especially at an early age, is not good. Kohn, as well as some others, believe that people would be better off taking part in noncompetitive activities. However, competitive games, if anything, can benefit a child more than they can hurt them.
             At the end of most games, there is a winner and one or more losers, and let's face it, sometimes certain children don't take losing that well. Those with the same view as Alfie Kohn, would say that having children play such competitive games that result in winners and losers could be very detrimental to the child. In their opinion, competition among children can do several things; it can undermine the child's self-esteem, poison relationships the child has with others, cause the child to be aggressive, make the child untrusting, and hold the child back from doing their best. Their solution: get rid of the competitive games and create games that make children partners rather than opponents. This way, all the children become winners and the focus will be more on cooperation and less on competition. Terry Orlick, a sports psychologist at the University of Ottawa, came up with one example of these g
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