Spelling Bee

[HououinKiyoma]

It's become a really common trend as Indian-American's have been winning the Spell Bee for around a decade now. It makes me kinda curious to know why are they so obsessed over winning the Spell Bee? Is it the child's intelligence or parental pressure?


(I'm trying to write this from a neutral perspective and I would like to see if I find similar traits to stuff that happens back in India).

[Flapjack]

It's become a really common trend as Indian-American's have been winning the Spell Bee for around a decade now. It makes me kinda curious to know why are they so obsessed over winning the Spell Bee? Is it the child's intelligence or parental pressure?


(I'm trying to write this from a neutral perspective and I would like to see if I find similar traits to stuff that happens back in India).
I don't believe different ethnicities are more intelligent, I think it is the culture.

[HououinKiyoma]

I don't believe different ethnicities are more intelligent, I think it is the culture.

No i definitely didn't mean to put it that way!

How can the culture of a person determine how good he'll do at a competition?

[Flapjack]

No i definitely didn't mean to put it that way!

How can the culture of a person determine how good he'll do at a competition?
There are so many things that could be causing the majority of winners to be indian american as you claim.

Firstly, it may be that the parents of the children immigrated from India to the USA and want their children to take full advantage of the oppotunities they now have and not to live like they did etc etc.

I don't know a lot about Inidan culture specifically, but I know a lot of Asian cultures, like the Japanese, take education veryyyy seriously and so the students will willngl study so much more than they do in the west. There is also great pressure on them from their parents and society. In contrast however, a lot American students do not take their studies seriously.

[kevenity]

now that you bring it up, i was watching a spelling bee on ESPN two weeks ago and there were a majority of Indian participants. I think it can be related to culture and striving for a better education and academic success

[Porpoise101]

It's become a really common trend as Indian-American's have been winning the Spell Bee for around a decade now. It makes me kinda curious to know why are they so obsessed over winning the Spell Bee? Is it the child's intelligence or parental pressure?


(I'm trying to write this from a neutral perspective and I would like to see if I find similar traits to stuff that happens back in India).
Ok, growing up half-Indian I could see the differences between Indians and white people. First of all, let me just say this: It is not the child. Children are taught at a young age to be studious and work work work. So they study up and get smart. So the parental pressure causes the intelligence. Parents want to reap the benefits of this and then go do spelling bees, math olympiad, science olympiad, etc. This isn't limited to Indians, but other middle-class immigrant groups. So you will see all types of Asians, some Latinos, maybe a European, but few American whites.

White people, on the other hand, are more concerned that their kid gets into the junior travel soccer league.

Of course, this is mostly 1st gen immigrant parents. Indians who were born in the US don't act like this as much. In fact, they are what I would call having a good balance between sports and studies.

[Phosphene]

I have noticed this trend also. A co-champion trend seems to be starting as well!

A big part of how seriously children take their academics from a young age on is how much their parents encourage them. As said above, for white citizens who have not immigrated to the US, sports most likely take precedence over academics. Kinda silly if you ask me... :(

[mattsmith48]

I have 2 things to say about spelling bees
1. Why does it always have to end it a tie?
2. Why does it end up on sportscentre its not a sports?

[Phosphene]

I have 2 things to say about spelling bees
1. Why does it always have to end it a tie?
2. Why does it end up on sportscentre its not a sports?

1: Not always.
2: It's competitive and you're exercising your mind. ;)

[mattsmith48]

1: Not always.
2: It's competitive and you're exercising your mind. ;)

1. Why does it have to sometimes end in a tie?
2. so is chess but it doesnt make it on sportscentre

[Phosphene]

1. Why does it have to sometimes end in a tie?
2. so is chess but it doesnt make it on sportscentre

We'd better stop this lol, don't want to derail this thread completely as the topic was Indians winning the spelling bee and we haven't exactly stuck to it. But, before I go:
1: Because both participans that tied happened to receive words they knew each round.
2: YET.

[Vlerchan]

Worth noting that non-European, non-Hispanic immigrants tend to be self-selected for intelligence, which is highly hereditary.

Indian-headed households also have the highest incomes - 103,000 dollars* - and there's a reasonable correlation between income and IQ, on top, which would support the idea that immigration policy selects for Indians at the right-tail.

That - and culture.

---

* I heard Microsoft pays them 11 dollars an hour though.

[Judean Zealot]

Not to toot any horn, but this also more or less accounts for the wildly disproportionate impact and success of Jews in the sciences and the like.

[phuckphace]

striver-cultures treat life like a MOBA and born into immense pressure to grind grind grind to get the best items.

from an outside perspective it looks like a living hell.

[Porpoise101]

striver-cultures treat life like a MOBA and born into immense pressure to grind grind grind to get the best items.

from an outside perspective it looks like a living hell.
mathnasium wasn't that bad...neither was quizbowl. I definitely didn't miss out on a normal childhood.. :(

In reality it's maybe a little more stressful and I personally think that it is beneficial to do this to children because it instills a type of discipline. From an insiders perspective it seems that lots of Americans are apathetic slackers who don't work hard and are impulsive.

[phuckphace]

A MINUS? you bring shame to famirry. you grounded for ten year. you study rong time. I have no son.

[Microcosm]

I imagine many of these trends start off as coincidences and cause a sort of subconscious interest in people of certain ethnicity to succeed in a specific field, in this case a spelling bee.