Competition or Cooperation

In this essay, I will talk about whether competition or cooperation should be encouraged among students. We cannot deny that, currently, we have a competitive and diverse society.  Competition inevitably can appear now at the earliest of life stages, even from the time one is a toddler. Some parents, wishing their children to achieve the most out of life,  send their children to cram afterschool programs to learn as much as possible. As a result, Whether in languages, sports, dances or other activities, children are taught to be competitive.  One of the positive consequences of this training is that they become brave enough to face further challenges.  However, a strong sense of competition, in other ways, could also overwhelm young people with too much stress. Moreover, the sense of competition can cause them to become more selfish and to think only about themselves instead of others.

Cooperation is important for society. Some people think that teamwork is more powerful--albeit unpredictable--in comparison to competition. Students who are taught to cooperate will make great contributions to society. One approach to developing an environment of cooperation is to have students do group work. They talk to each other, help each other, and resolve problems together, and, in this way, they can learn new things more quickly.  The most important result is that they learn to work based on empathy towards members of their groups.

Although a sense of competition assists students to strengthen their awareness so that they work hard to survive, I prefer for learning to be inspired by cooperation instead of competition. Only in cooperation can students understand other people and learn to care about their feelings. And a dedication to working more cooperatively will help them to become happier individuals.