In all schools alike, there is an emphasis placed on student leadership, success, and achievement. Children are repeatedly told from elementary school through college, that with hard work and dedication anything is possible and they have the potential for greatness. This notion, in and of itself is not potentially harmful to a child, however, when greatness is defined in terms of power and money, a warped view of the important factors in life is created. Not every person desires to be a leader just as not every person should be a leader. The concept of success and achievement poses a similar predicament. Not every child is destined to be a doctor or lawyer when they grow up nor should every child become one simply for the prestige that it offers. Every position in society, from the custodian to the research scientist, plays an equally important function in society. Besides placing emphasis on high achievement, many schools have adopted the practice of increasing children's self esteem. While it is important to help children embody a positive self-image, esteem is something that ought to be developed through achievement rather than praise. Recently, schools have done away with choosing first place winners and replaced it with an emphasis on the value of participation. In school sponsored sports, to ensure that every student has the opportunity to participate freshmen teams have been created and most schools have regulations to monitor the playing time of each athlete. Some may argue that this will help to increase student's self-confidence under the premise that every student should be made to feel like number one. However, this will lower the standards of expectation and eliminate the competitive drive to be the best. Why would one athlete work hard when other members on the team are not and still given playing time? When this situation is present, the motivating factor of being the best is eliminate
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