Some people think that a sense of competition in children should be encouraged. Others believe that children who are taught to co-operate rather than compete become more useful adults. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Competition and co-operation are two distinct personality traits of human beings. The issue of whether we should encourage children to compete or co-operate with each other is certainly a contentious one. While there are arguments in favour of both, I believe that children should be taught to indulge in healthy competition while co-operating with others. Being competitive is natural to children;

however

, encouraging just a competitive spirit may cause them to not be empathetic towards their peers.

For example

, children participating in a race would not show empathy towards the one who has fallen down, if they solely focus on the competition.

This

is not a good trait for a person;

therefore

, the children should be taught to compete in a healthy way, so that the negative effects of the spirit of competitiveness can be eased-off. Co-operation,

on the other hand

, teaches children to be team players.

Besides

,

this

is an essential requirement for adults to successfully work in diverse work settings.

Moreover

, learning to co-operate

also

enables them to be patient and empathetic towards others.

For instance

, children who learn to co-operate and work together with their classmates in school learn to be co-operative at their workplace when they grow up.

Thus

, co-operation is an important quality that needs nurturing from a young age in order to be a respectful adult. In conclusion, based on the above discourse, it can be concluded that

although

competitiveness is necessary, children should be educated about being co-operative so that they develop a habit of participating in healthy competitions.

Therefore

, in my opinion, the spirit of competitiveness in children should be balanced with the quality of co-operation.