'competition' to the exclusion of teamwork and cooperation IS a bad thing. And sportsmanship, teamwork, and all those things are the OPPOSITE of competition. Ironic, huh.
The important thing to teach a child about competing is measuring his or her success against his or her own potential, or his or her own past performance, or something to that effect. Think of preliminary races that are usually done in "heats," where a person is performing against a CLOCK, not against the other people in that "heat." One heat may not have any competitors who move forward; another may have two or three. It's not so important that you pass everyone ELSE, but that you do your BEST and EXCEL. What we're conditioned from a very early age to do, though (and this article explains it succinctly and accurately, I think) is "it's not enough that I win; I must win while you lose." And that certainly IS bad.
Um, teaching your child that he or she should "strive to be THE BEST" could be setting them up for even bigger problems later. Mathematically, only ONE person can be "the best". I think it's cruel to pin your child's self-worth to how they compare with their peers' arbitrary skills.
Teach them to try to get better? Yes.
On Sep 3, 2012 Petra Botekova wrote:
I think that this story reflects that the real human nature is rather good than evil. In these tough times people are looking for some real gestures of compassion and kindness. Thanks for posting, it is really an inspiration.