In this day and age, children as early as in primary schools are exposed to competition among their peers whether to receive the best grade or get into the best school. While some individuals think that such competitive nature of early education is harmful, others argue it is an important driver to excellence. I am strongly against fostering competition in young individuals, however it does offer some teachable moments.
On one hand, not all children thrive in competitive environments. While some students are driven to become better and outperform their peers, some pupils may experience adverse effects, such as losing self-confidence and motivation, in the event of failure to do so. Additionally, competition creates a toxic culture, one that does not foster collaboration and empathy. Consequently, children would not only be deprived of the opportunity to learn from one another, but in extreme cases might also engage in bullying of worse-performing students.
On the other hand, competition is one of the driving forces to achievement. It is an important motivator for pupils to put more effort into their studying. Competition is also an indispensable part of the real-world work cultures. As a result, learning to thrive in such environments at an early age would only make the children better prepared to face the future challenges.
To conclude, while competition might be a strong motivator and useful practice for future working environments, it may have negative effects on the children, namely, loss of self-confidence and lack collaborative learning. Therefore, schools should foster a supportive environment.