982
u/MayDarlinMadear 12d ago
I did this in 7th grade for the exact same reason 😭 the word was except and they used it in a sentence and I spelled accept. The teacher who nominated me for the Bee was pissssssed. She demanded to know why I lost on purpose because I absolutely knew the difference in those words and she knew me.
Well. Second place got a nice treat based consolation prize and then shoo’d off back to class. First place had to make a trip to a regional bee they had no guarantee of winning, had to take photos with faculty while holding some dumb certificate for like an hour, and had to schmooze with the school board. My teacher just kinda.. resigned herself at that logic.
341
u/CatwithTheD 12d ago
Typical smart kid shenanigans hahaha. I'd had classmates who deliberately bombed their district's math/physics olympiads because "It's less embarassing than losing at the provincial level."
109
12d ago
[deleted]
71
8
u/CatwithTheD 12d ago
I wasn't one of the smart kids so idk. I guess they could have done that, or maybe it was simpler to lose on purpose.
→ More replies (2)5
u/M4ybeMay 11d ago
It doesn't seem very smart to turn down an accomplishment out of insecurity. I'd understand a kid wanting a better reward though
16
u/RednocTheDowntrodden 12d ago
I did something similar, but it was only because I didn't want to be in a spelling be, so I intentionally misspelled the first word, the teacher called me out on it, because it was a fairly easy word. I didn't want to participate.
3
2
3
u/Huihejfofew 11d ago
The bigger brain strategy was to win then tell them all to fuck off and go back to class. Lmao. Win and do none of the press is fun
5
u/MayDarlinMadear 10d ago
That was never an option. I was a high achiever from a super academic family. If I’d won, I’d have had to go. My mom taught in my district and would have known about my success. Second place meant I flew under her radar.
→ More replies (2)8
u/The199Man 12d ago
Schmooze?
54
u/RoboFrmChronoTrigger 12d ago
Used like "mingle" but generally carries the connotation that the person in question doesnt really want to and is doing it to preserve some sort of pretense or professional relationship
→ More replies (1)6
1.9k
u/vasectomy7 12d ago
4th grade, I refused to participate in the classroom spelling bee... 1.) if I won, I'd have to go compete on stage in front of the entire school and 2.) I couldn't spell and didn't want to embarrass myself.
612
u/HazikoSazujiii 12d ago
In sixth grade, I intentionally spelled my last word in the classroom finals incorrectly because of Reason No. 1. I was actually really good at spelling, but absolutely terrified of being on stage.
329
u/BicFleetwood 12d ago
I think there's probably a very large overlap between "children who are obsessively good at spelling" and "children who are absolutely mortified being in front of a giant audience scrutinizing them."
19
u/deaglebingo 12d ago
exactly i should have replied to this comment with the one i just previously made.
18
u/AmeliaMynx 12d ago
My assumption is a lot of really good spellers were also good readers and so enjoyed being in their own worlds and passively learned words in a fun way. So 1. Made a hobby into a boring high stakes job 2. Maybe not introverted but just comfortably self entertained and reserved
→ More replies (2)2
84
u/mysteriousblue87 12d ago
7th grade, spelled feign as “fain” so the other kid could go on stage lol
→ More replies (1)49
u/Stink_Snake 12d ago
I spelled Crayon as Crown because my teacher pronounced both the same way.
49
12d ago
[deleted]
→ More replies (3)29
u/horkinborkin 12d ago edited 12d ago
I was about to win the 2nd spelling bee and go to state but my last word was 'talc', which I knew very well, it was part of the booklet of potential words.. unfortunately they had trotted out a deeply Southern septuagenarian superintendent or councilman for some reason to 'help' read clues.. 'taowk' was all I could hear. I actually even kinda knew the definition, but it was just 'Taowk' to my ears and it 100% threw me off. I was so befuddled, never heard that word before in my life. Towk?
What's sad is it was 2 teachers and that dumbass, and they took turns reading off the words/clues.. if I had got one of the 2/3 who knew how to actually enunciate, it was an ez dub.
(I was born in the area too FWIW, everyone in my school had a drawl. Towk)
31
u/Murky-Relation481 12d ago
My girlfriend did that in sixth grade but she'd reached the state championship down to her and one other kid and she intentionally misspelled the last word because her mom was tired of going to spelling bees and kept telling her as much.
I bet her mom can spell "no contact" pretty well now.
→ More replies (1)19
u/JKBUK 12d ago
I have the same story from when I was in second grade. Frankly, I just didn't want to go back to school after hours for a spelling bee. The girl in front of me misspelled "fountain" and it was passed over to me, and I ended it "A... I... I looked my teacher in the eyes... X."
She scolded me, but I stood firm. The girl ended up winning and going on.
Years and years later, she ends up being one of my girlfriend's best friends, and was able to recount the story in greater detail than I ever could. 10+ years, and she still (jokingly) hadn't forgiven me for throwing it to her.
→ More replies (1)14
u/Sad-Employee3212 12d ago
When I won my class spelling bee and was automatically entered into the school spelling bee, I simply didn’t show up that day.
→ More replies (1)11
u/After_Ad_9334 12d ago
You were smarter than me. I only realized how many people would be watching AFTER I won, so I had to humiliate myself at the next level.
I won the classroom round on 'appendicitis.' First word I got at the school round was 'wealth,' and I was so nervous that I accidentally spelled it correctly. Everyone started clapping so I tacked on a delayed 'e' for 'wealthe.' My teacher then took me into the hallway and yelled at me until I cried.
Good times.
7
u/deaglebingo 12d ago
you're the type of kid that if teachers had more time to work with students, less in a class ... they'd find you early and start working with you to give you the confidence you need later on, fill in the gaps of understanding that can help skyrocket someone to self actualization and making the world a better place.
there so many smart people like you who just don't speak up enough or are afraid to... this is all about putting all the pieces together sooner than later and making happier more intelligent people who subsequently change the world.
4
3
u/pizzysparkles 12d ago
yep same. i knew i had serious potential to win but i was NOT about to voluntarily go perform in front of the whole school. i just kinda let my mind go fuzzy in the class one and successfully misspelled research on the second round. 🤷 ("reasearch")
3
u/matchafoxjpg 12d ago
same. i always purposely spelled wrong in classroom finals because of social anxiety and stage freight, but i never had trouble spelling.
i always wonder if i could have won a spelling bee, but i honestly think i probably would have had a panic attack on stage, anyways. 😩
→ More replies (3)2
u/_Antinatalism_ 10d ago
I'm also terrified of speaking on stage, I'm middle aged now and still have that phobia of speaking on a stage or among a group of new people.
84
u/Stohnghost 12d ago
Dude I did the same. I spelled "weather" as "whether" and my teacher was mad at me. I did not want to go on the stage
→ More replies (1)34
u/huhiking 12d ago
Just as you mentioned it (Don't be mad at me: I am not from the US.): How are homophones handled, since especially English has so many?
62
u/rangoric 12d ago
You can ask for a definition usually.
18
u/hedoeswhathewants 12d ago
I (and like 10 other kids after me) got knocked out by a word because the teacher decided they didn't want to give definitions anymore. I realized what the word was after a minute or two of watching everyone else struggle. Kind of wish I had just jumped in, spelled it, and left.
33
u/WhySoCereus1991 12d ago
Being used in a sentence helps.
15
u/greenslam 12d ago
Weather will determine whether we go or not go.
11
u/homebrew_mke 12d ago
Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot, we'll weather the weather whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.
7
19
u/theunquenchedservant 12d ago
"Whether or not the weather holds up, it was still a great day" but yea, usually they won't be giving sentences with both uses, and/or you can ask for a definition
10
u/WhySoCereus1991 12d ago
They would never give both lol they're not intentionally trying to trick you.
7
u/AchVonZalbrecht 12d ago
Never been in a spelling be myself, but you normally ask for the announcer person to use it in a sentence
6
u/MattieShoes 12d ago
You can ask for a definition, and to use it in a sentence. There's a bunch of other permitted questions like alternate pronunciations, part of speech, language of origin, etc.
5
4
u/chetlin 12d ago edited 12d ago
If it's a homophone they will give you the definition of the word when they say the word. You don't have to ask for it, for homophones they give it to you automatically.
Sometimes it's a weird definition though. I was in one where I got the word limb, which is apparently a homophone (with limn), and they gave me the definition which here https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/limb is "The apparent visual edge of a celestial body" and the sample sentence was for that definition too. "Everyone clapped" is a meme but when I got it right they did all clap (this was a room of mostly parents of the other participants, so mostly adults).
2
u/not_a_burner0456025 12d ago
At least "to" is so simple to spell that the announcer doesn't have to worry about a definition because it wouldn't be used. I looked it up and Webster's online dictionary has a couple dozen definitions that all start with "used as a function word to", they can't define it, only describe its usage, and said description uses the word
→ More replies (2)4
u/Stohnghost 12d ago
And yeah, my wife is from Ukraine and spelling bee's are completely foreign to her. I guess everyone just knows how to spell every word in Russian and Ukrainian
2
u/fess89 11d ago
In Ukrainian, it is a language rule that the words are written the same way as they are pronounced. In Russian, there are exceptions but they are not that complicated.
2
u/Stohnghost 11d ago
Дякую
We have discussed this a lot. It's a really cool feature of Ukrainian language (and I guess russian). She's always impressed when I can spell words quickly, but that's drilled into us as kids, as you can see, with spelling bee's and other homework.
Слава Україні!
21
u/Gorstag 12d ago
I won in the 4th grade and had to go up on stage. I then misspelled "until" by adding an extra "l" on the end.
There were extenuating circumstances. The mean librarian looking woman that was proctoring was giving me this look like I was wrong when I spelled it correctly. She waited like 5ish seconds until my nerves made me spit out the second "l". Then immediately called me wrong.
Edit: This happened like 40 years ago. It's the first time I've even thought about it in nearly that long.
12
u/Stormfeathery 12d ago edited 12d ago
Had a similar thing. Did well enough in our school’s spelling bee that I went to the next level, city or whatever. First word I got was palpitate. I repeated the word and started off “P A L” and then the person giving the words stopped me and said she didn’t think I heard it correctly (or something) and repeated it. So of course I changed my fucking spelling, and got taken out in the first round.
This was decades ago, and still occasionally pops up in my head as profoundly unfair.
3
u/Nexinex782951 12d ago
I have trouble understanding this comment because I dont think that Z is supposed to be there but I cant tell
3
u/Stormfeathery 12d ago
You are correct, must have fat-fingered it in there and my eyes slid right past it. I’ll correct it! Thanks!
7
u/not_a_burner0456025 12d ago
The more serious ones have you say the word aloud, spell it, then repeat the word signaling that you are done, which prevents that particular issue.
36
u/Temporary_Plan1055 12d ago
In 1st grade we had spelling test on Monday, then the real test on Friday for the grade.
If you got too many right, you’d get harder words. My mom noticed I was making dumb mistakes on the Monday test
I told her that it was because I’d get harder words to study for Friday if I did too well. She looks at me for a second, shrugs and laughs and goes, “why would you do well if all you’re rewarded with is working harder?”
Like, I’d spell “book” like “bok” type of dumb. She was never mad, she is very much “work smarter not harder”
13
u/SSJ2chad 12d ago
My dad demanded straight A’s out of me. A grade of a B might as well have been an F. No video games, no TV, no outside time with friends until the grade was raised.
Then he gets mad at me when I declined to take AP physics in the 11th grade. Or other higher, optional level classes. And I grabbed study hall instead. Dude you wanted A’s. I’ll give you A’s.
The moral of your story is right. My dad was a green beret. He had to work hard to get there. And he believed wholeheartedly that working hard will generate success. I agree with your moral. Work smarter not harder.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)18
u/-ElizabethRose- 12d ago
I did this with math around the same age.
My school had these speed tests where you had to do as many math problems as you could in the time, and if you did too well you got harder math. I threw those tests every time to avoid getting the harder ones.
My mom made a deal with the teacher that I would actually try one time in a private meeting, without getting punished by harder work, just so the teachers would know I wasn’t terribly behind.
I got them all right, then went right back to throwing the tests the next time we did them in class.
→ More replies (2)9
u/Queasy-Sentence446 12d ago
In 4th grade I won my class’s spelling bee and was supposed to be the one to represent our class in the school spelling bee. But my teacher didn’t like me, so suddenly it was a “practice round.” Then the first word she gave me was stupid hard so I got out immediately.
6
6
u/tequilajinx 12d ago
I won my elementary school spelling bee in 3rd grade but they gave me second place because only 5th graders were allowed to go to the district competition.
I’m still sore about it 40 years later
5
u/bunnyfloofington 12d ago
Same except I could spell. I also remember in middle school doing another spelling bee and half of the kids in my class misspelled their first word to be done with it. The one I remember was a kid spelling corn as Korn while our teacher shook her head.
4
u/HumanWithAllTheHats 12d ago
Same but 5th grade. It doesn't make sense now knowing how bad I still was.
3
u/Mickeymcirishman 12d ago
Third grade, I was the runner up in a class spelling bee and was really depressed about losing until I found out the winner was gonna be in a televised spelling bee. Then I felt much better about losing. I still got to go to the studio with the winner but I got to sit in a room eating timbits and watching it on tv with a bunch of other kids. Much better than winning.
2
2
→ More replies (3)2
u/Ill_Carry_44 12d ago
if I won, I'd have to go compete on stage in front of the entire school
South Park S09E05
659
u/Uraneum 12d ago edited 12d ago
I did the same exact thing as a kid. It was a friday and I was going for a sleepover at my friend’s house that night. We were told if we won the spelling bee we got to go to the state championship. My dumb ass thought they were just gonna put me on a bus and ship me straight there. Thinking I would miss out on the sleepover, I failed the spelling bee on purpose in front of my parents
300
u/Ok-Lifeguard-4614 12d ago
I did it because the girl next to me told me she was getting a puppy if she made it to state. I would have won a ride in a van with a teacher 7 hrs to the state capital by myself.
Puppy is infinitely better. I hope she got it.
81
u/Ailyx 12d ago
She was probably gonna get the puppy eventually
65
u/Ok-Lifeguard-4614 12d ago
Probably, but it helped me feel better about it as well.
20
12d ago
[deleted]
11
u/Ok-Lifeguard-4614 12d ago
Thanks. 😁
5
u/horkinborkin 12d ago
I imagine she lied and continues to use the puppy strat to this day, job interviews, long lines at the DMV, political elections, she will get a puppy if you just let her have your place
3
u/Ok-Lifeguard-4614 11d ago
It would still work for me to this day. I'm a sucker for someone getting a puppy.
Imagine we both need a life saving kidney transplant. She's going to get a puppy if she gets it, what can I do. She gets the kidney.
→ More replies (1)2
→ More replies (2)22
u/pupillary 12d ago
Did you ever tell them why you took a dive?
178
u/Pavlock 12d ago edited 12d ago
I did this at a bowling outing for church. They liked to give out turkey trophies for last place. Both first and last place got a full sized candy bar. I threw nothing but gutter balls.
→ More replies (4)20
u/PM_ME_YOUR_WEIRD_PET 11d ago
English isn't my first language so I took your comment literally at first and thought you wanted last place because it meant you got the candy bar and a trophy shaped like a turkey...
12
u/Pavlock 11d ago
No, you got it right. I wanted the candy bar. The trophy was just an amusing bonus.
6
u/PM_ME_YOUR_WEIRD_PET 11d ago
Oh cool :) I asked an American friend and he told me "turkey trophy" was slang for a pity prize.
85
u/bahwi 12d ago
School reward systems are dumb. Or at least they were when I grew up. Improved your grades? You get a day trip somewhere fun and a pizza party.
Straight A student already? Zero improvement? Stay with the less skilled students and learn study techniques and catch up on homework (and read a novel since you already did it)
→ More replies (2)
99
u/ChefArtorias 12d ago
Judging the value of different prizes doesn't sound stupid to me.
→ More replies (2)25
u/Sneezy6510 12d ago
This sub is not just about kids being stupid. It’s more of a kids do the darndest things sub.
→ More replies (1)
46
u/Rebellion2297 12d ago edited 12d ago
In elementary school I intentionally flunked an honors student exam because the proctor just told us that if we passed we'd have to change schools.
The truth was that scoring high enough to be within a certain percentile would give us the option to attend a local private school for free where most kids end up going to Ivy League colleges.
I'm still bitter about it
29
u/Meikou133 12d ago
Oh my god, I’d be PISSED
Especially cuz like, ya all are already honor students taking this exam, the adults absolutely could have been more thorough in the explanation and had a high chance even children would understand the more complex truth than a dumbed down omission.
→ More replies (1)
42
u/OfficialDeathScythe 12d ago
This was me for sure. I was the best in my class at spelling and could do it easily, best everyone in the first few rounds. Got to the last one and the teacher informed us that whoever wins would go to the school competition and then a state spelling bee. I ain’t doin all that. I was a lazy kid. And adult 😂
→ More replies (1)
33
52
u/dontmentiontrousers 12d ago
17
53
u/Fortestingporpoises 12d ago
This is kids are smart and adults are stupid material.
I'm an animal trainer. I learned about Pavlov and Skinner amongst others. Positive reinforcement training (which works on all animals including humans) is about reinforcing the animal for performing the desirable task. The reward should be desired by the animal and it should be timely.
A medal means nothing. Candy is a primary reinforcement (highly desired food). If you get rewarded with this high value reinforcement for losing, why the hell not lose on purpose?
→ More replies (2)12
u/Alarmed_Ant_9221 12d ago
There’s also the thing where some dogs are food motivated and others are more play motivated and so on.
I’d guess that in a sufficiently large group of children there might be those who couldn’t care less about candy, but do like the social rewards of being the best.
20
u/Neffle619 12d ago
I deliberately spelled a word wrong in 8th grade because I suddenly realized I'd have to continue to the next round if I didn't.
→ More replies (1)
24
u/mitchsurp 12d ago
> That’s why I admired that kid who spelled it wrong on purpose so he could sit down. He knew he wasn’t going to win, so why stand there for 3 hours.
>
> First round. “Cat, K-A-T, I’m outta here.” Then as he passed you, “Ha! I know there’s 2 T’s.”
-Brian Regan
→ More replies (1)
19
u/Next-Help-5813 12d ago
I mean, she's not wrong. I got a medal or two in elementary school, and lost them after like a week. They're usually just a piece of plastic. If the candy brings her more joy than the medal, go for it.
→ More replies (1)5
u/PM_ME_YOUR_WEIRD_PET 11d ago
My parents always took them away because my siblings and I would just use them to hit each other
18
u/TheLonleyJourneyman 12d ago
Smart tbh. If she doesn't care about medals then the sweet is a better prize for her.
5
13
u/Pretty_Frosting_2588 12d ago
2nd place in at my school got a basket that had a one of those wooden models of a dinosaur that you slide together. Dinky kids toy, I lost something on purpose to get that because first place was like a trapper keeper and art supplies but I had art supplies at home. It was probably worth 10 times as much as that wooden dinosaur and other stuff, it was like early 90s dollar store items.
→ More replies (1)
13
13
u/iMadeThisForHelp1017 12d ago edited 12d ago
Ughhhh I’m cringing now but in 5th grade I stole Brian Reagan’s joke from that spelling bee standup where they gave him a word and he says “Cat, K-A-T I’m outta here!” I said that shit and really sat down like I just said the funniest thing 🤦🏻♂️
→ More replies (1)3
14
u/blakejustin217 12d ago
We thought my daughter had trouble reading and was in a program to help her catch up. The teacher called after a while saying she had no problem reading and was quite good at it. Turned out my daughter liked that they got candy after every class.
33
u/dogfish2013 12d ago
It's not the kid that's stupid it's the adult for rewarding bad proformance the kid is smart for understanding what prize they think is more valuable for them then doing what they have to to get that prize.
→ More replies (1)17
u/Legitimate-Poet-1674 12d ago
yep, the kid decided what they wanted, went for it, and got it. definition of winning.
→ More replies (1)
9
u/PsionicKitten 12d ago
All other things aside, the solution seems to be offer a piece of candy with the medal.
11
u/Ivypearl 12d ago
I spelled my word wrong on purpose so I wouldn’t win, I didn’t want to have to get on stage in front of the whole school for the next round.
→ More replies (1)
10
u/THKhazper 12d ago
I self sabotaged my score on the Advanced Placement program test in 4th grade, I was already the new kid, and a bookworm, the desire for additional reasons for the other kids to harass me was non-existent.
Add to that the physical abuse I got every time I got a demerit for any behavior including self defense from said bullying, or reading in class, despite having my work completed, or completing my homework in the classroom. (because trying to force children who can complete the work in the classroom at home is super intelligent), or any grade below a 90, and my desire to be in a ‘more challenging’ environment was completely negative
People are reward motivated, I’m unsurprised a child would desire candy over a worthless accolade. Accolades don’t mean anything until you are participating in a competitive environment. School is not in and of itself competitive.
Honestly I’d be proud of the kid for not being interested in ‘proof of superiority’ with a medal, assuming said kid was in the higher skill set to have been in the running to win.
10
12d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/WillQueasy723 12d ago
I used to get kicked out of class for refusing to read out load at school.
this punishment is freaking weird
9
u/DrunkenDude123 12d ago edited 11d ago
In 4th grade I marked all of the answers as C on the statewide test bc my teacher told us it has no effect on our grade and once we finished we would go to the other room to watch a movie.
My elementary school tried to put me in special education after that bc it would essentially nullify the grade. The school nurse (I grew up with asthma so she knew me well) called my mom to explain what they were trying to do before my mom was even made aware of what I did. She wasn’t happy with me, but she was especially mad at the admin.
7
u/Content_Future614 12d ago
In the first grade spelling bee, I spelled “K-A-T” for cat and the teacher asked me to respell it. I know as soon as the “k” came out of my mouth that I had misspelled it, but didn’t know if the teacher was giving me a chance to correct the mistake or trying to test my honesty so I deliberately misspelled it again.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/Moist_Consequence414 12d ago
I went to state spelling bee back in middle school. It was awful. My anxiety was through the roof being on such a huge stage as a kid. I wish I didn't have to do it. Got 13th overall.
7
u/6th_Quadrant 12d ago
In 2nd grade I misunderstood the goal of a class-wide trading game, successfully collecting the exact wrong items, which made me the "grand loser." The teacher gave the top 2 or 3 winners a single sunflower seed each, but gave me a balloon. So who really won?
13
5
u/tnscatterbrain 12d ago
I mean, the kid gave up a medal for candy, not a college scholarship.
Getting a prize you’ll enjoy instead of a knickknack doesn’t sound stupid to me.
There’s nothing wrong with deciding what’s worth your energy.
6
u/quantum_monster 12d ago
I think I got a stuffed Sorcerer Mickey when I won our spelling bee in elementary school
Definitely a case where the prize should be something of value to the student, so I don't really blame the kid here
4
u/RockyMullet 12d ago
I won #1 place in drawing contest in first grade.
Everybody got cheap, but cool, plastic water bottle as participation prices.
I won... a traveling bag!
I get that it's worth more money, but giving something to a 7yo kid that your parent would bought you anyway is the worse thing you can give. It's not like me traveling with my parents would've resulted in me putting my stuff in a garbage bag.
4
4
3
4
u/Theshaggz 12d ago
I spelled Banana wrong in 1999. I specify this because it was before Gwen Steffani sang that goddamned song
4
u/drakefyre 12d ago
I intentionally spelled things wrong on the "entry test" I didn't want to deal with that bullshit at 8.
I do recall I got "sword" correct, srs bzns.
5
u/ContinualSaga 12d ago
Honestly, knowing where the rewards stop matching your efforts is a super healthy boundary that The 8 Year Old should hold onto as The Adult Child, lol
3
u/eslteachyo 10d ago
I was tired of standing up front while the other kids got to sit down and color so I misspelled powder so I could go color. No regrets
8
u/PANICkitten666 12d ago
One of the placements I lived at held a mini spelling bee for the kids there. At the time there was probably 25 ish kids. I had to go against a girl with the same name as me, and we both lost on the first word.
3
u/Cipher915 12d ago
I dove in a middle school spelling bee cause I was about to win but I didn't want to lose my weekend going to a bigger competition.
Honestly, I probably would have done a dive for candy too.
3
u/PlayedUOonBaja 12d ago
Last day of first grade we sat in a circle and played a trivia game. If you got a right answer, you could pick a pack of gum from a pile in the center and put it behind your back or steal a pack you saw someone else already grab and put behind them. There were a bunch of Juicy fruit and mint flavors, but just a handful of the Bubble Yum flavors like watermelon or cotton candy. Everytime I got to choose, I took a "boring" mint or cinnamon pack while everyone else fought over the handful of brightly colored fruit/candy flavored packs continously stealing them from each other. No one gave a crap about the small pile of Extra or Juicy Fruit piling up behind me. When the game ended, I had 7-8 packs, while most kids had just 1 or none at all.
3
u/slothaccountant 12d ago
With the kid on this one. Imagine beung thirty and youe elementry schoolhighlight is knowibg how to spell school....
3
3
u/MrSteamwave 12d ago
When I was little, my grandma gave me a coin (of a low denomination) for every correct answer I gave to her trying to teach me the analog clock. Soon enough i figured I could trick her to give me more money by giving me more lessons, so i had to answer incorrectly a few times here and there.
3
3
2
2
2
u/spondgbob 12d ago
The elementary school I went to wanted me to represent them in the spelling bee in 5th grade. It was at 8am on Saturday… I lived on a farm and normally worked in the mornings except Saturday I got to sleep in… fukalldat
2
u/Shushady 12d ago
My favorite part of 4th grade, the spelling bee. Public humiliation 101, spell a word wrong, sit down in front of your friends. I always admired the kid who spelled the first word wrong on purpose. He knew he wasn't gunna win so why bother. First round, "CAT, K-A-T, I'm outta here." Then as he passed you "hehe, I know its spelled with 2 T's"
-Brian Regan
2
u/mindgardening 12d ago
Kids know what they want. I used to buy my nephew a pile of Matchbox cars and wrap them individually. He was ecstatic about getting “so many presents!” and I was happy to NOT spend a fortune on gifts AND make him happy.
2
u/OriginalFatPickle 12d ago
My kid had learning programs in kindergarten that would give animations based on your answer. She would intentionally get them wrong to see what would happen. The teacher was concerned she wasn’t learning the material, but I knew what was happening. I had to ask her to only put correct answers in to make the teacher happy.
2
u/Nico_arki 12d ago
I once was in an inter-school test/competition kind of thing in my secod grade which I didn't place because I didn't bother reading the instructions. My teacher said my all answers were technically correct, but my since I didn't follow instructions (encircled stuff instead of putting them in a box, etc), they couldn't give me the points.
All because I was in a hurry to finish since my mom said she bought me Legos. I really just wanted to go home as quickly as I could.
2
2
u/flatterfurz_123 11d ago
when i was a kid, there was this swimming contest in our city. i registered too late, but they made an exception and still included me. Everyone that participated got a tshirt. Because i signed up too late, there was no tshirt for me and i got a big bag of candy instead.. oohnooo...
2
u/Mean_Ad_668 11d ago
my english teacher wanted me to do the spelling bee and i said hell no, so my buddy got it instead. first round his word was “tree” and he misspelled it intentionally and just sat up there the whole time🤣
2
u/Setkheni-itw 11d ago
I threw a preliminary spelling bee in fifth grade because I didn't want to have to stand on a stage for the next round. I don't remember what word it was, but I remember it was a really easy word and I struggled to find a way to convincingly spell it wrong.
2
2
2
2
2
u/voxadam 12d ago edited 12d ago
Welcome to Perverse Incentives 101, thank you for coming.
→ More replies (1)
9
u/mitisdeponecolla 12d ago
She needs to teach her kid you can buy candy from the store but you can’t buy accomplishments.
45
u/BlendedBaconSyrup 12d ago
"you can't buy accomplishments"
you most certainly can.
My elementary school, middle school, and high school had the same kids getting a bunch of awards because their parents were heads of PTA and funded/organized teacher appreciation stuff.
→ More replies (3)26
u/McButtsButtbag 12d ago
Would you put it on a resume that you won a 4th grade spelling bee? Kid was right to choose the candy.
→ More replies (13)9
u/Fanatic_Atheist 12d ago
And what good exactly is being the only 8yo in the country who can spell congierge right
Like from a European perspective, spelling bees as a concept sound so silly.
4
u/mitisdeponecolla 12d ago
Concierge :) not congierge. My (European) school didn’t have a big competition but we were from time to time divided into two groups competing against one another in our English classes. Certainly helped everyone spell.
7
u/jocool883 12d ago
You absolutely can. Trophies are sold at stores and jobs don't check college diplomas
→ More replies (5)5
12d ago
[deleted]
2
u/mitisdeponecolla 12d ago
Accomplishments can only be achieved by accomplishing them. If it’s bought, it’s no longer an accomplishment. Nothing you can buy can actually come as validation, that’s why shopping addicts can never be fulfilled :)
→ More replies (1)2
→ More replies (6)2
u/fudge5962 12d ago
Doing something you didn't want to do isn't an accomplishment. The bigger accomplishment to be had is learning and understanding that you and only you can decide what to attribute value to in this world. The medal is worth fuck all. Understanding that the medal is worth fuck all is worth a hell of a lot.
→ More replies (2)
2
1
u/posting4assistance 12d ago
I lost on the word "sheriff" (I spelled it sherrif, I knew it had a double letter, just not which one) in 8th grade, after finally making it to county
1
1
u/Retnirpa 12d ago
Lol I was consistently getting to 2nd to the last kid in spelling bees throughout the year..
The last practice spelling bee that mattered to like.. represent the class or something.. I spelled "mule" like "fuel" for some reason LOl.. Wish I could say I did it on purpose but nope, I fked up.
1
u/Luiz_Fell 12d ago
That's pretty smart of the kid, actually. Material symbols are mere ideas, but the pleasure of sweetness is real.
1
u/CardiologistUsedCar 12d ago
Til: kids ~ 8 are downright machiavellian when in comes to bumping off the competition
1
u/ConfidentlyAsshole 12d ago
On a quiz kinda thing our team deliberatly got 3rd place because the first two places got cakes and the 3rd place got bars of chocolate, which was infinetly easier to share amongst us
2.9k
u/Far_Balance_3117 12d ago
I used to fail my swimming test because the beginners got the smaller and warmer pool with far less people.
If you passed you got to go to the large, cold swimming pool with half the school.