remember when

Yesterday was "Buddy Day" at my school. In addition to the fact that I got to wear shorts to work, it was a great day because I didn't have to teach anything. Buddy Day is much like any typical field day except the students are partnered together, then wander to each activity unsupervised. Surprisingly it works and we don't lose any kids. Favorite activities such as tug-of-war and potato sack races are gone. Competition has been reduced to a minimum, eliminating the need for pink or green "participant" ribbons. Instead only 3 or 4 events are deemed ribbon events. The rest are activities such as water balloons, sno-cones, pinata, and the cupcake walk.
I was in charge of base running- a ribbon event. It was simple enough. Students ran around the bases while I clocked their time. The three fastest times were awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place ribbons. There was no need for runner-up or participant ribbons. Maybe it was the competition factor, but my event was very popular. Many students kept coming back simply because they wanted to beat their own time.
At one point during my morning I looked over and saw one of my students playing tetherball. Alone. I laughed a little as I deemed him my very own "Napolean". But mostly it made me think. Why was he by himself? After all it was Buddy Day. And why are some kids singled out to be simply 'participant'? Even when we no longer give them the ribbons to draw attention to that fact. From an early age some sort of social heirarchy seems to develop. Labels are placed on kids, and then they will spend years trying to live up to the label or overcome it.