rocking horse winner. you know in grade school when they haphazardly gave out medals, stars, bumper stickers, big rounds of applauses, and prizes for just about everything you did? i used to think that was just wack. why would someone get something for doing practically nothing? what is the value in getting a medal if every other kid in your class has one? nothing, right?



but you do get something. you get confidence. you get to look at your room, emblazoned with ribbons for "not last in the spelling bee," "almost potty trained," "superior usage of twenty of the twenty six letters" and you swell with pride. giving kids the sense that they're winners is a key to their healthy development. i mean, at least until they realize that the jig is up and that getting a star for attending school is actually not anything worth commending.



but everyone needs to feel like a winner once in awhile, even when you're old. we may not need to be the best, but we need to feel like we're above average at something. even if it's winning a game of street fighter against a blind man, winning feels good. there is no replacement for winning. there are always bigger pots and higher stakes but winning always produces the same results: joy, pride, uplifted spirits.



so forget leaving no child behind, let's make every child a winner instead -- flowers, medals, stars, trophies, t-shirts, buttons, my little ponies, anything -- and then they'll be confident mature adults, even if they can't read.