Spelling Bee competition = stupid intellectual pursuit?

Question

Did you see the interview the kid who won the national competition in CNN?

Link is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4hLS01uscY

That has to be the MOST awkward interview ever. That kid who absolutely no social skill whatsoever. It shouldn't come as a surprise as they spend their time remember words from a freaking dictionary.

Isn't spelling bee competition one of the most stupid pursuit ever? Is there any benefit at all, other than say "oh, I can spell that word"?

Answer 1

And your post is a higher form of intellectualism, I suppose?

Answer 2

spellingchampion is right first of all. Also, I was a finalist in regional competition in the spelling bee and I can tell you the benefits of spelling competition. To answer your question though the spelling bee is definitely not a stupid intellectual pursuit. The kid who won the spelling bee- Evan M. O'Dorney won the spelling bee and I think that many jealous people are calling him a dork/geek. This interview was yes, I agree showed Evan as a very antisocial person and all his other interviews are similar but just because one champion is like that, it does not mean the spelling bee produces children with only this single-minded pursuit and do not interact with their peers whatsoever. Did you know that the 2005 champion was considered popular in his school and the 2006 champion enjoyed sailing? The benefits of the competition are of course the prize, meeting peers similar to you, learning new word and acquiring a greater vocabulary, learning word origins, and much much more. By the way, kids do not prepare for the Bee by memorizing the dictionary.

Answer 3

Is an athletic competition any different at that age except to say Hey I pitched a no hitter? Leave the kid alone and while yes he is homeschooled I know many many public school students who could brush up on their social skills, manners and respect as well. I know a young homeschooled girl who is not very social and this is the reason she is homeschooled. 17 years old and has 3 books into a publisher now waiting to hear...she just had an art show and made $3000. If anything at all the boy has something to be proud of. Hey I had to take Algebra and well I dont use it at all in my life. Nor do I use science really. There were alot of things I learned in school that are pointless to me now and I dont remember. How many of remember everything we ever learned?

Answer 4

People who can spell (and those who use grammar correctly) tend to command more positive attention and respect from their audiences -- I'm sure you have seen plenty of bad spelling on Yahoo Answers, and you have to wonder what that person is really thinking.

However, the words given in spelling bees, particularly the National Spelling Bee, would *never* be used in any sort of real-world situation. With the availability of spellcheckers and online reference materials, you just don't need to memorize a whole bunch of oddly spelled words these days.

By all means, kids should learn useful rules for common, everyday situations (e.g. "i before e except after c"). But I agree that much of the contestants' efforts are wasted, since many/most of those words they memorized will never be used outside a spelling bee.

And yes, that interview was painful to watch. Maybe it's because he had been up late the night before, but you have to wonder how much he interacts with people. In some way, I feel bad for him being thrust into the spotlight so suddenly.

Answer 5

Well, I don't know what you mean by 'important jobs that keep the world going' but most teachers, nurses, social workers, carers etc are women. The world would be in a pretty fix without them. And it is also women primarily who raise the children. Do you consider that unimportant? Who is going to look after children if women don't, and what do you think would become of the world if they didn't? And as for intellectual curiosity, personally I am more interested in history than anything else, and I know a lot of other women who are keen on history. I don't think women lack intellectual curiosity.

Answer 6

I think it's important. That spelling skill and any vocabulary knowledge is going to come in handy throughout that kid's life, whether they use it on a school paper, the SAT, or in their job - even if they don't aim to be a writer like me, everyone has to write a report eventually, and we don't all use computers with spell check. I think this stuff is important in its own way.

Answer 7

Compared to what? As opposed to a question with snide criticism and phrases such as "stupid pursuit" and "freaking dictionary"?

Hmm, yes, maybe you have surpassed him in social skills, don't you think? Gee, poor fella. By the way, YOU are the poor fella.

Answer 8

It is a KID! Not freaking Barbara Walters. Of course the kid can be not very articulate. Because it is KID! Not adult.

It's better than Xbox! Or PORN!

Nobody is saying these kids should be working at AEI or Brookings Institute. It's about trying to get kids to like reading & learning.

Answer 9

Heck yeah there is! That kid won 35,000 dollars in cash. Plus 10,000 $ in other stuff!

Answer 10

It can't be any stupider than you ranting and raving about such trival things on some two-bit blog site. :)