Pinatas

Yesterday, I took Elle to the park to help her practice riding her bike without training wheels. She did great until she swerved off the sidewalk and onto the grass and off the curb into the road. She didn't have as much fun after that. (It was a side street, with no cars whatsoever driving by).
While we were there, I saw a birthday party. As usual, they had a pinata for all the kids to smash. And, as usual, I saw the parent ripping the pinata apart and scattering its contents for all the eager kids.
I'm not sure why we parents insist on the pinata thing. It NEVER works. The kids all take turns whacking uselessly until some kid manages a small hole and a token piece of candy falls out. Then, all the greedy kids rush up and fight over it. All us moms reign in the kids so they won't get hit by whoever knocked the one piece of candy out in the first place. After all that, more useless whacking. Eventually, the parents and kids are fed up and anxious for the candy. Thus, they all witness a grown up ripping the My Little Pony's head off, or, for better candy distribution, forcing it's body apart in the middle.
Then, they can all gather as much candy as possible, which is a lot for some kids, and none for others, resulting in tears and hard feelings.
I've seen this time and time again, and I saw it once more yesterday. So silly. When will we learn?