Can’t we just stop with all of this self-entitlement?

S ports resonate for many reasons, not the least of which is their metaphorical richness. How their rhythms reflect daily life: quick decision making in times of peril, working with people of varying backgrounds and motivations, learning frustration management and coping with success and failure.

There's one pathway, however, where sports are leading us astray. This warped idea that in life, mere participation and a modicum of effort begets a trophy. Doesn't work that way. We may work our assets off for something and either fail, fail to be credited or just get ignored entirely. Trophies are earned. That's life, as Sinatra once sang. Let's keep this in mind, people. Because something just happened to a friend of mine that provides a cautionary tale to us all. The “everybody gets a trophy” concept has crept its way into other aspects of society. It's not good. And it's up to us — parents especially — to activate and sniff the Maxwell House. (Wake up and smell the coffee.)

OK. So my friend is a teacher in the region. My friend recently committed the ultimate act of educational egregiousness: issuing a grade that,

shall we say, didn’t act in concert with the other grades on a certain kid’s report card. Oh, the humanity. The teacher’s reward: a vicious e-mail from the kid’s parent that was copied to the teacher’s superiors. Essentially, the missive was full of the same drama as a scorned lover. A wee bit melodramatic that was big on emotion and small on specifics.

Know why it was written? Because that trophy didn’t come. The trophy to which everyone is entitled now, regardless of whether we invest the work. And I’ve had enough. Maybe it’s because I have many teacher friends.

I’ve heard the stories. They’ve all received similar condemnation. Because they had the audacity not to issue the trophy that wasn’t earned and certainly isn’t guaranteed.

Hence, I ask parents: What are we teaching our kids if we berate our teachers before applying a hint of self-examination? What if our kids are being lazy? Self-entitled? Or … and hold on to your ascot with both hands here — what if our kids just aren’t very good at the subject matter?

Example: I was lousy at math. Still am. Got a ‘D’ in pre-algebra. A ‘D’ in geometry. Know how many times my parents cussed out a teacher? None. Zero. I always got: “try harder.” Or “go for extra help.” I did. Didn’t matter. But I sure learned some lessons I carry with me today.

And so when, exactly, did it become de rigeur to start blaming everyone else?

Here is where sports, education and life hit the same intersection: We’re not all good at everything. Struggle is good. It is a teacher. A catalyst to what educators call a “growth mindset.” And if we parents are too quick to protect and defend our kids, how will they ever learn to cope with … anything?

I mean, is it me or are we creating a generation of softies?

A note here to administrators, too: Have some guts. Support your teachers. I get that you need to be good listeners and allow even the most self-entitled looney birds to vent. But when they finish, a few words of reassurance to the teacher in question is a sign of leadership. So start acting like leaders.

My teacher friend, much like Gloria Gaynor, will survive. But it’s time the rest of society start acting more like teachers and coaches. Heed the words of Frank Martin, the men’s basketball coach at South Carolina, who said this after a game last season:

“You know what makes me sick to my stomach? When I hear grown people say that kids have changed. Kids haven’t changed. Kids don’t know anything about anything. We’ve changed as adults. We demand less of kids. We expect less of kids. We make their lives easier instead of preparing them for what life is truly about. We’re the ones that have changed. To blame kids is a cop-out.”

Amen, brother. We, as parents, need to demand more. Stop protecting them. Understand their strengths and weaknesses. They’re not going to be good in everything. To expect that they are is setting them up for failure.

And one last thing: Think before you hit the send button. The aforementioned e-mail was more out of bounds than the 10th row of the bleachers. This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro