Miss South Carolina answers questions on education. Ouch!

[monsoon]

I don't usually like to cross post articles but in this case I thought it might be good for South Carolinians to weigh in on what I would call an embarrassment to the state. Apparently the winner of Miss Teen USA 2007 was Miss South Carolina and her she is answering a question on education. This video is being replayed on CNN and CNN International and she is being identified as Miss SC. Personally I was appalled they would choose someone such as this for this position when at one time beauty pageants had a requirement their contestants also be well educated and well versed. Instead she sounds like one of Paris Hilton's friends.

Not good for SC's reputation. What do you think.

(I have to commend Mario Lopez for not laughing)

[gs3]

I find it hysterical on one level and deeply troubling on another level. This tells me that both South Carolina and the nation have a serious problem in the education system. Where did she go to school?

She better ride the tide of her title and milk her looks for all she's got, because otherwise...........

Here is a pretty funny take on it:

http://www.afterellen.com/blog/scribegrrrl...?comment=391655

[monsoon]

She is apparently a product of the Lexington school system as it says she is a student of Lexington High School. I had to look this up on the map. Lexington appears to be a suburb of Columbia. Unfortunately for SC, Lexington HS was awarded the Carolina First award for best HS in the state.

[Captain Worley]

Lexington HS is a pretty good school. I guess it is a BEAUTY contest after all and maybe they should drop anything related to answering questions at all.

Once again, SC looks foolish.

[Neo]

I'm curious as to how the local news channels have reacted to this? Has it simply been downplayed or has an education issue been brought up? I would imagine that it would simply get dismissed and not ran in the news as it does not hold a great light to the state of SC, especially to the high school that she attended.

[gs3]

I'm curious as to how the local news channels have reacted to this? Has it simply been downplayed or has an education issue been brought up? I would imagine that it would simply get dismissed and not ran in the news as it does not hold a great light to the state of SC, especially to the high school that she attended.

[Neo]

I really hope that the discussion of this happening reaches those who can actually make a big difference in the education system (though it could be argued that those in charge are no more educated than elementary students). It is a shame that not only did this girl fumble around with an answer as she did but to play it down as a misunderstanding of the question afterwards. Afterwards is too late. She might have redeemed herself by asking to have the question repeated BEFORE she answered it.

The question isn't that many grade levels above the question, "What is your favorite color?" so I really do not see how a 'misunderstanding' can even take place. Hopefully those in power can work towards rectifying the problem not only in South Carolina but in the entire country as the problem isn't necessarily just a statewide problem, it has gotten much worse than that.

[erm1981]

Very pretty girl. It is a shame she couldnt give a better answer then that. It might have been stage fright and she might not be a good speaker but good grief....that was pathetic.

[gs3]

When I was in high school (and middle school), we had to take courses in both debate and public speaking. Are these still taught?

I understand stage freight, I've had it in meetings with clients and fumbled over a word. We all have had stage freight. The educational concern that comes into play here, are her basic grammar skills....."THE Iraq"......she called Iraq "THE Iraq" multiple times.....she didn't finish a sentence or thought....she seemed unable to put together a basic sentence.

We can't all be wordsmiths, but.......she is evidence of failure in our educational system. We all worry about the girl that gets pregnant and drops out of high school, or the gang member that gets expelled. What about these middle class kids, like this girl, that the system is awarding a diploma.....think of how many are like her. Really sad and probably flies under the radar.

[monsoon]

Yes. She has been so unchallenged in her life despite coming from the best high school in SC, that not only can she not answer the question that was asked, she apparently can't even comprehend it. This despite the "Education Lottery" and Bush's "No Child Left Behind". I have said before that most American's, though probably not this student, would be shocked if they knew how far ahead the rest of the world is when it comes to basic education. This demonstration from what should be the cream of the crop of students is an example of how this country is slipping into an almost childlike state of existence.

[MikesLogic]

Ouch. Ah well, she deserved to win the beauty part of the pageant anyways.

It seems pretty obvious to me that she was confused. Unless she always fumbles with her thoughts like that.

Also should add that I don't think this looks bad on SC anymore than it does on all of America. She is Miss Teen USA right?

[whitehourseview]

Seems some real straw men are being built here, axes to grind, etc.

As far as I know, the young woman had a major case of stage fright. It's happened to me and I'm glad that the world and You Tube weren't around to record it and then dissect my education, and the state and the nation's ills. Ugh... I know nothing about her, what she is like, what her academic skills are like, etc. As far as I know, she is a wiz at the social sciences.

According to her biography, she's traveled throughout Europe on sports teams, moreso than I did when I was her age.

It's worth a chuckle, I think, because we've all been there. But that's about it.

[interestedexpat]

Yeah - I saw this too. Really painful. I think it reflects poorly on SC and the entire country. But worst of all this will follow her for many years. Fortunately for her she's good looking so people will likely overlook it.

[Greenville]

Yes. She has been so unchallenged in her life despite coming from the best high school in SC, that not only can she not answer the question that was asked, she apparently can't even comprehend it. This despite the "Education Lottery" and Bush's "No Child Left Behind". I have said before that most American's, though probably not this student, would be shocked if they knew how far ahead the rest of the world is when it comes to basic education. This demonstration from what should be the cream of the crop of students is an example of how this country is slipping into an almost childlike state of existence.

[monsoon]

Ironically, you made a grammatical error above by putting an apostrophe where it was not needed. ....

[erm1981]

I believe its more about the idea of comprehension then anything. They really just wanted to hear a good answer from her but instead she ended up speaking with jumbled ideas and bad speech skills. It could be a case of stage fright but who knows? Metro was right about how the question sort of just went right over her head like she didnt even think about it. A simple answer would have been better then what came out of her mouth.

[gs3]

Yes, we all do get stage fright from time to time and none of us are perfect. I've become very lazy and dependent on spell check......without spell check and an admin assistant, my typing and writing are full of errors. Stage fright however is usually an incorrect word or two......this video simply doesn't make sense.......it is incoherent from start to finish. I'm left wondering what she was trying to say with that ramble. I simply can't get past "THE Iraq". Someone taught her to speak this way. I hope to God, out teachers are better than this. I had an English teacher that used to chastise me every time I used the phrase "fixin to" (and if you are Southern, you've used this phrase). This video makes both our educational system and the state of South Carolina look bad. "Perception is reality".

I do agree with metro's post above, that as a nation we continue to fall behind. Our best and brightest simply aren't "up to snuff" when compared to other countries (India, Japan, Germany, etc).

You all are welcome to count the number of incorrect spellings, gramatical errors, etc in my post and let me know.

[monsoon]

.......

You all are welcome to count the number of incorrect spellings, gramatical errors, etc in my post and let me know.

[Spartan]

Greenville, the only thing you're proving is that you can point out other's mistakes. Leave metro alone and stay on topic. Metro will reciprocate this response as well. If tyop's are the problem then I'd hate to hear what you think of my education. I'm willing to bet I make more typos here than anyone else on the SC forum.

I think that its unreasonable to assume that this one girl is the culmination of South Carolina's educational deficiencies. You have no idea what was going through her mind at that time. Maybe she had never thought about that particular issue before? That was a hard question if you've never thought about it. Its easy for us to sit back and be armchair quarterbacks about it. If anyone judges all of South Carolina's students based on this one girl then I feel bad for them. It also offends me personally as I am a product of SC's public schools and universities.

That said, it was a lousy response and it didn't to crap for our educational perception. And, as a geographer, I am offended at her unintelligent remarks. But it all makes me wonder what she did to win the Miss SC competition to begin with. The people that have made it that far in the past are usually pretty sharp kids. Without having seen her performance through the rest of the competitions, I'm not going to completely judge the poor girl. She obviously had a bad day.

[Captain Worley]

She had a bad day for sure. Since she came in third, I'd bet she'd have won if she didn't tank the question.

BTW, here's The State's article on the subject: http://www.thestate.com/news/story/157328.html

I heard on the radio that she'll be on the Today show this morning, so I guess it wasn't all bad for her.

[monsoon]

.....

I heard on the radio that she'll be on the Today show this morning, so I guess it wasn't all bad for her.

[Neo]

Apparently she will be given a second chance at answering the question on the show according to the article. I am very curious as to how well she will answer the question. Considering she took honors classes and graduated with a high GPA and having had time to really think about the answer I can only hope that she will make every effort and then some at redeeming herself.

[monsoon]

I did watch this "second chance". Without surprise the girl gave a very good answer to the question though it was completely obvious to me it was well rehearsed and coached. Later she was asked to say something about the lunar eclipse taking place today and she again gave, what seemed to me, to be a well rehearsed speech right out of an encyclopedia.

I am not trying to give this girl a hard time as that isn't the point.

Personally I think NBC's stunt to save face concerning it's Teen USA pageant backfired on a couple of fronts. First it demonstrates the contestant is quite capable of preforming on national television as one would expect at this point. Second, it just shows how biased the national news media has come to reporting news. This event was as staged as they come and done so in the interest of corporate values. It was a misssed opportunity to have a real discussion on the level of education in the USA these days.

[Greenville]

At least her appearance on The Today Show provided her an opportunity to redeem herself somewhat. I am glad she had that opportunity, because I can only imagine being her age and receiving all of that negative publicity. I'm sure this has been an awful experience for her, but hopefully she will use it to accomplish great things in life.

[Greenville]

She said in the interview that she will be attending Appalachian State University. Perhaps the recruitment video swayed her: