3b. In a children’s game of
musical chairs, one child is clearly the winner. Should the organizers of the game give each
child the same prize in order to not hurt anyone’s feelings? Or should the children be taught at an early
age how the world usually works? Which of these two approaches is likely to
produce the happier child?
When
is musical chairs usually played? It is most often played at celebrations,
mainly birthday parties. Children know when
they are at a party they are not celebrating themselves. It is an unwritten rule that children give
presents on those occasions, not receive them.
In my opinion, all of the children do not need to receive the same prize
as the winner because they simply played the game. The pleasure of winning should be enough
reward. When children are constantly
given prizes or rewards only for putting in the effort they become reward
driven. As they grow up, they will
always want to know what they will get from any situation. Take little league or any childhood sport for
example. All the players used to get a
trophy at the end of every season for merely playing. Why? Only one team wins and even if awards are
given to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place that is only
three teams not all 10.
Children do not need to constantly be rewarded simply
for effort. I think if children are
always rewarded that will shape their minds for the hedonistic approach to
happiness. They will always expect some
level of pleasure to follow any type of work.
As mentioned earlier they will constantly seek reward and praise, which
is exactly what hedonists do. They can
never have too much pleasure in life they will over indulge because they
deserve it. If children win or greatly
excel then they should earn a reward.
Children should learn at a young age that the world is not fair but in
moderation. By all means, I do not think
children should have to fend for themselves or never receive a small reward but
they should be prepared for the real world and the real world does not cater to
the hedonistic approach to life.
In real life, no one gets rewarded for small
accomplishments like winning a game.
There are times in life when people work extremely hard and still they
do not receive a reward. Back to musical
chairs, in the moment, the children who all received the same prize for playing
would be happier. They would feel so
blissful because they would all be equal receiving the same reward for essentially
the same effort. Children who received
no prize could possibly feel sad or jipped because they did not win and another
child did, which resulted in no prize for them.
As the temporarily sad children grow up, they will understand that they
do not always “get” something for every task they complete, while the children who
are constantly rewarded will be seeking pleasure for everything.
