In It To Win It, Not Bin It

It would seem that great old British tradition of school's sports day is upon us. (I know other countries have these also so don't get picky). Now some schools are scrapping 1st Place so that every child is equal and they don't feel the shame of coming 3rd or God forbid last! As is commonly said in interwebz speak WTF? We are in danger (real rattlensake bite type danger) of raising a bunch of lily livered pansies and baby poofs. There is no learning on that path, let me tell you.
If the great Michael Schumacher had thought like this he would never have been seven times world champion. Ditto Sir Steve Redgrave or any other sporting champion you care to name.
YOU NEED THE DESIRE TO BE FIRST IN ORDER TO WIN.

A winners ass yesterday

Children are not stupid. They know if they've come last, and they will not be fobbed off with guff like, "its okay, you came 5th but you're still a winner!" What utter nonsense! No they don't feel like a winner because if they've come 5th in a race they bloody well know it was 5th and not 1st, and no amount of pussyfooting around will stop them feeling like sh!t.
I took part in plenty of school's sports days and had my share of 4th places, and it did me no harm. In fact it spurred me on to do better the next time it came around. Telling children (and adults) that everything is equal is not natural and robs people of a thirst to succeed. Better to face it head on; you are going to have bad days and failures, that is where most of Life's lessons are learned. Your spirit will thank you for understanding this.