TROPHY KIDS

This concept on 'trophy kids' was mentioned in the Facebook compre we did. Read for the background and relate to last year's 'A' level qn:

Do awards and prizes serve any useful purpose?

Consider also the point that awards/prizes can result in a backlash, causing the stakeholders to only invest in those activities that have a higher chance of winning awards/prizes. Think of how certain coutnries and schools only allocate budget for those sports that can win glory for them and neglect those that can't. Likewise, we get to see a limited variety/diversity of films if film-makers focussed only on those films that are Oscar-worthy material in order to answer to the investors. In short, in using awards/prizes as carrots to motivate/encourage behaviour or attention in certain areas, we run the risk of neglecting other equally desirable, if not better areas.