Do Televised Spelling Bees Put Too Much Pressure on Your Kids?
We no longer live in the days where children enter spelling bees just for fun. Nowadays it is a televised event, with trophies and in some cases top dollar prizes. But does this put a lot of undue stress and pressure on your child? If you really take the time to think about it a regular spelling bee that is just held in front of their peers is stressful enough, but when you choose to put it on television this definitely takes things to a whole new level.
As a parent your main focus should be that your child learns as much as they can, not to be overly competitive. Of course there is nothing wrong with children participant in innocent contests from time to time. But it seems that the media has turned the innocence of a spelling bee into a huge deal for both the children and the parents. All this really accomplishes is that it adds more stress to your child. Possibly even more than they are capable of handling.
Instead of helping your child to focus on other subjects or just on having fun, many parents turn all of their attention to the spelling bee. They want their child to be the winner. One of the biggest televised spelling bees is the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The usually only broadcast the final championship rounds. This is where the most stress and pressure is felt by most children. For the 2006 spelling bee they chose to air it on primetime with one of the biggest networks (ABC). They even have it set up so that the media can interview the champions.
If you really take the time to think about, just imagine how some of the losers will feel. Of course they will never publicly say that they are devastated, because they still have to show that they are good sports. But when any child is put under this much pressure don’t you think that eventually it will get to the point where it is just too much for them to bear? If you have ever been to a televised spelling bee you will definitely feel for the kids. This does not necessarily mean that it is entirely bad. As stated earlier in this article there is nothing wrong with a little friendly competition for children.
A spelling bee is a good way to get them to learn. But why not just keep it like it was in the good old days. Just make it something for parents, friends, and their peers to see. If learning is kept stress free then children will be able to learn a lot more. The bottom line is that a televised spelling bee can cause a child of any age way to much stress, and the parents should really take the time to consider some of the points that have been brought out in this article.
