I did the spelling bee thing in school as well; I won the school competition (not a large school), and ended up going to the regional bee. I was wiped out by “ancillary”, a word which at the time I had no idea about, but which now I know is an adjective meaning “supplimentary or auxiliary”. Derived from the Latin word ancilla - “handmaiden, female slave”.
The girl who did win was odd; I recall her wearing sickly yellow tights and bouncing on one heel as she recited each letter of the words she spelled. I also didn’t notice a single bit of glory emanating from my peers for the accomplishment. I don’t mean that as sour grapes, just a fact, and after that I didn’t really bother with spelling competitions.
Good spelling is the hallmark of healthy reading, which itself is a sign of intellectual curiosity. Intelligence then begets good spelling, but this does not mean that all good spellers are intelligent, a mistaken notion that competitions like the National Spelling Bee actively promote. That in and of itself would be relatively harmless but for the fact that in America, we believe that if a moderate amount of something is good then a whole lot of it must be great. Thus, the better you spell, the more intelligent you are, and the only way to measure “better” (in American society) is to have a head-to-head competition.
And even this wouldn’t be so bad if the participants were adults who–whether or not they understand the faulty logic given above–accept the challenge as a bit of good fun (this, I think, is the entire premise of the game show Jeopardy). Instead, we’re subjecting pre-teens to this pointless ritual, egged on by adults who can’t seem to set aside competitive fever when their own Johnny or Jane is involved.
The most apt analogy–as others have pointed out–is to competitive high-school athletics. Overpromotion of top professional sports and athletes have led to a condition where kids no longer play sports that aren’t imperiously organized by adults. The result: More kids today don’t participate in any kind of regular physical activity (childhood obesity is a real problem, but it’s one that has a rather obvious solution; why then is it such an epidemic in America?).
Spelling bees IMO promote a similar overall decay in genuine intellectual curiosity among children. Worse in fact, because (1) they also promote a weird, anti-social dynamic in those who do participate–check out the documentary “Spellbound” if you don’t believe me; and (2) there’s nowhere to go with championship spelling talent once the competition is over–at least good high-school athletes–who must sacrifice a significant portion of their childhood to achieve their goals–have a way to parlay that skill into a career.
In reviewing this, I notice that it could be read as a criticism of the children who participate in spelling bees. Nothing could be further from my intention; I’m sure all these kids in there own way are as bright and wonderful as any child. But I still wonder if participation in this event is damaging them somehow.
