Date: Sat, 30 May 2009 15:26:36 +0000 From: Naguesh Bhatcar <sgbhat...@hotmail.com>
It is not by chance that kids of Indians, do well at these US Spelling Bee or Geographic Bee. They take great pains to push their kids to do it. Parents of Indian kids are known to put a lot of pressure on their kids to stand out. It is even said that they live their lives through the achievements of their kids!! Mario adds: Naguesh is generally correct in his observation. Indian American parents push their kids to do well across the board which is why the Indian community dominates the academic scene in the US in just one generation. However, it has to be more than parents pushing the kids. At this level, the kids, too, must participate and enjoy the competition. Many other Americans push their kids as well, except that they focus on other activities like sports or music or dance or acting, which is why they excel in those areas. Spelling is not a high priority for most other Americans, especially in this day and age of the Internet where spell check can do your spelling for you, and the growing popularity of texting and tweeting where abbreviations are popular. Most Indian American kids are unable to compete in the physical activities mentioned above that other Americans excel in, so spelling and academics is where they find it possible to distinguish themselves.
