Why is My Child Competitive?
This is a question we hear a lot from our parents. It’s hard to believe that your children have that much of a competitive side to them, especially when you yourself don’t feel that same raging desire to compete and conquer. We’re here to tell you that it’s totally okay for your child to have a competitive side and that you haven’t done anything wrong. For one thing, having a competitive attitude in and of itself isn’t right or wrong; it’s not good or bad. Here at Viking we strive to maintain a healthy level of competition while having fun, whatever that means to your child.
A healthy level of competition pushes a child to be the best that they can be and encourages a growth mindset at a vital point in development. In the world we live in today, anything from finding a high school to go to or applying to a first job as a coach, waitress or babysitter involves level of competition. This means that for many of us it will definitely be an important skill.
In terms of the competition we are looking to promote at Viking Sports, we believe in the philosophy that, “The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves.” We want your children to learn how to play in a competitive team sports environment without intruding into the expense of others. We pride ourselves in sportsmanship above all here at Viking. You can’t always win them all, and you can still put your best foot forward and do better than you did yesterday.
In closing, it may be alarming or just plain amusing how your child has a sense of competitiveness that does not seem to match your own. As always, the question of why your individual child might have a competitive edge can only be answered by considering both genes cross the environmental interaction. Tendencies to react in certain ways based on the child’s inborn biology might combine to produce a highly competitive child out of a non-so-competitive pair of parents. Some of these tendencies might even be turned on over the course of development in light of any type of environmental interaction. The important thing to remember is that competition, like any virtue, can have both positive consequences and negative consequences if practiced in excess or deficiency. Please help us to foster healthy competition in your child!