We need to do two things to create an environment in which our children can compete healthily. First, we need to examine the role of competition in our children's lives. A balance of competitive and cooperative experiences may reduce the bad, and the ugly, side of competition. Too much too early will generally lead to difficult situations for children. Second, we need to increase our efforts to help specific children and families manage competition and its impact on their development.
Individual children respond to competition differently.
Children who lose interest in activities, report high anxiety related to competition, or show signs of dishonesty when competing are likely to be having trouble coping with the demands of competition. Parents and professionals should collaborate to initiate strategies to help these children deal with the demands of competition. Every effort must be made to evaluate competitive systems and specific competitive situations to determine their impact on the holistic development of children. Preparing children to live in an interdependent world. Beyond the age of competition.