Nowadays, the modern educational system is structured in a way that encourages competition between the students, but at the same time tries to inspire the collaborative spirit. In my opinion, both can contribute to the child’s character development either in a positive or in a negative way.
First of all, competition can increase the chance of becoming better, as the children try more to find success in order to surpass the others. In this way, it boosts their confidence and they learn to never stop trying, which is a crucial lesson for their life. Consequently, as adults this can lead to getting hired by their desired company or making their dream come true. On the contrary, this continuous obsession of achieving perfection, can increase stress levels and cause psychological problems. Rejection and failure are possible outcomes in life but it’s important to know that there’s always a solution behind any problems.
Although competition can be positively impactful in adulthood, learning to be a part of a group and work collaboratively is essential in every aspect of life. More specifically, an adult needs to be able to communicate with others in order to find work on a company, have friends, even rent a house. From my experience, many jobs require the applicant to have a team spirit, otherwise it might be difficult to accept or discuss other people’s ideas and even communicate with potential clients. On the other hand, it is evident that while it is necessary to learn to co-operate, it is also important to have faith in your ideas and decisions and not get easily influenced by others. This behavior can be considered as having low confidence and self-esteem.
To summarize, both the competitive and the cooperative spirit play an important role in the development of a child’s character. If they are well balanced, they can contribute into forming a confident, social and conscious adult who can deal with modern society’s demands.