It probably started around the time that "participation awards" became a thing. Nobody loses. Everyone's a winner, even if you put no effort in and just turn up. Great job at being subpar-here's a certificate.   Many, many moons ago I worked in a school and I remember the teachers not being allowed to put "John cannot yet count to 20" or something like that. They had to write "John can count to 20 with assistance". I can understand not wanting to make a child feel bad about themselves, but these were reports cards. Their whole purpose is to let the parent know exactly where their child was.  TL;DR-too much coddling and praise of mediocrity.