The myth of Spelling bees..

The myth of Spelling bees..

Yet another set of Indian Kids have won the National Spelling bee contest this year. In the last fifteen years, this prestigious prize has gone to a kid of Indian origin a whopping 12 times. By any stretch of imagination or ratiocination - this is a significant statistic that can leave no doubt about the fact that Indian kids have found a way to crack this game of etymology. No jokes!!.

But here is the thing that I am worried about: I was talking to a couple of Indian parents in my community as I headed out for my evening walk, when one of the high-energy fathers enthusiastically said “Sir, I have started training my son on Spellings. He has a habit of reading, and I am sure he will be good with words". The other parent (Mother in this case) nodded her head excitingly and said “Ramesh (her son) also is like that. When he was four, he would not go to bed without flipping though few pages of a book...” She had a proud, beaming smile on her face -" We have already started forming spelling study groups, and Ramesh is doing very well" Both the boys in question were standing around their parents with a dazed look. Their faces did not light up when Spelling bee was talked about. In fact, one of them had look of dismay and perplexity. It was clear to me that given a chance, they would voice their opinion on what they felt about Spelling bee, and their interest in it - but, you know how it is with Indian kids, they know better. When Indian parents get on this bandwagon of planning children’s life - there is no stopping them.

This is largely the problem with Indian parenting when it comes to education, especially those who have come into this country on work visas, or been here for five to ten years forming their own little Indian coteries (state wise, religion wise or whatever wise). Most kids would have spent a little time in Indian schooling systems, and when they are grafted here, they do have a definite edge in their ability to retain things learnt, and tend to do well when it comes to exams and grades. The fact being: That's all we are trained to do, so we better be good at it. And traditionally, that is how Indian education has functioned (I am told that has changed radically in the last decade or so, and I want to believe it) - Peer pressure, competition, mad race to get more marks, severe parental expectation to come on top of every activity, cramming books - hallmarks of a system that has mechanically aping colonial legacy. I am appalled when I hear kids securing maximum marks in languages (100/100 in English, Unbelievable). Intelligence is such cases seem to be more or less measured in one’s ability to retain and regurgitate. Hence this mad rush into pushing kids into competitions where this indoctrinated ability can be advertised. Add to this, the relentless comparison of one's kids with that of neighbor's, and the compulsive need to be on par in everything they do. Typically, an Indian kid in the US is likely to attend three or four extracurricular activities, not always because they show an interest, or express a wish to be enrolled - but solely because Parents want them to. And we all know why?

This myth about winning a spelling bee contest as a great intellectual victory should be debunked as quickly as possible. It is a good competition, no doubt - but to be treated as play and nothing more. It is never a measure of intelligence. In fact to force a child to go through the torture of memorizing thousands and thousands of words without context, and usage is a moral crime. Some kids, I know have a natural flair for words. They pick up roots of words and their derivatives intuitively. Historically, Spelling bee contest was meant for such kids, and not to be made into an institution of torture as it is quickly becoming to be.

Ragashree Ramachandran, who won this contest in 1988 (second Indian to win it after Balu Natarajan broke the jinx in 1985), is now a surgical pathologist in gastroenterology - had this to say in a recent interview: " I think some potential spellers and their families may have this idea that winning the national spelling bee is an automatic passport to success, and I really don't think that's true.." She also went on say that she hardly spells now, but the most important learning that has stayed with her all these years after the spelling bee preparation is her need to speak and right with grammatical accuracy, precision and right choice of “simple words”. How very true!!

I only wish and pray that these kids grow up wise like Ragashree, and find success in life based on their intelligence, interest and commitment to their life choices. If spelling bee contest can contribute a little towards it, then so be it; otherwise we may be barking up the wrong tree…

God bless...

Yours in mortality,

Bala