For 2 years in swim classes each year the coach made everyone fail. We went the first year and failed and the second year and failed. Nobody passed either class and it was to teach us a lesson that not everyone wins and that basically our swimming sucked and wasn't fast enough. I was 8-9. Everyone was failed as a lesson.

Later I had soccer and we got a participation trophy at the end of the year for 2 years. I was 12-13 by then. I got no other participation trophies after that.

So what kind of lesson is learned if I had these 2 totally opposite experiences? I lost for existing and won for existing.

For track and field day and other competitions though I didn't get a participation ribbon. If you lost you got nothing.