Spell it out for me !

[Miki]

Well I have thought that TV was being made on the cheap for a long time but when the boxing finished (Amir Khan), I pressed a few buttons and found a spelling competition on BBC for kids.

It was 8.29 p.m (7.29 UK time), now call me grumpy if you wish but what the flipping heck is that about, isn't that for CBBBC or BBC at kiddies hour?

Imagine if you will, a programme of past TV shows from say, the 1950's - 1960's and they show a programme of kids doing spelling, well I for one would think, is that what they really put out to viewers in them olden days ! 

Is it really TV for the 21st Century or have we now reached the end of the road and TV will begin all over again, starting with my favourite, Muffin the Mule !! 

But this time to be shown at 9 p.m................

 

 

[Weedon]

[quote]Well I have thought that TV was being made on the cheap for a long time but when the boxing finished (Amir Khan), I pressed a few buttons and found a spelling competition on BBC for kids. It was 8.29...[/quote]

I didn't think you would have been able to get passed the forum censor with Muffin the Mule!!

Weedon

[Dick Smith]

Muffin the Mule is now legal. But you may catch Moby Dick...

Hard Spell - I was talking about this with a colleague today (ex-primary teacher) and she loves it - the idea that kids can get kudos for being good at something which requires brains not brawn. That's a serious point in Chav-culture Britain where so many kids are bullied just for being bright - or able to spell.

I'm not denigrating sporting success (before someone's feet occupy my throat) but there is a sad lack of balance, certainly in UK society today, especially for a lot of boys, in academic pursuits. In fact most boys, when asked why David Beckham was successful said they thought it was 'natural talent' or luck - glossing over hours of practice every day since he was 6.

[Will]

I thoroughly agree with you Dick. I've heard a lot of criticism of that programme - not because it is badly made or presented (which I think it is) but because people find it rather sad that kids should be put through such a competition and/or rewarded for being good at spelling. Yet any criticism of competitive sport is derided as being too PC. Not all kids can be good at sport (I know I wasn't) so why not give them the chance to excel at something else, however unfashionable? OK, there is a fair bit of humiliation, and pushy parents are very much in evidence, but doesn't that apply equally to anything competitive?

I also agree with Miki's point  - it's hardly prime-time entertainment, is it?

Legal or not, I never enjoyed Muffin the Mule . A related thought: is somebody who practices sadism, necrophilia and bestiality merely flogging a dead horse?

[Dick Smith]

I think they got the idea from the USA but those sorts of TV programmes happen pretty regularly in France, do they not? Was there a quiz show called Génies de l'herbe or some such? I remember a national orthography competition as well on TV5.

[Iceni]

Extending the thread slightly, I wonder what any non British person thinks about UK satellite TV and how it reflects on brits as a nation. It is all 'get a loan even if you have no job, ccj's, other debts BUT have a house' sometimes fronted by multi millionaire presenters. Even a goodly amount of adverts on the BBC and ITV channels are the same.

Spelling is not prime time TV and the reason it is probably on at this time is that it is far more interesting for parents and no children would watch it if it was on during the hours set aside for childrens TV. I suppose it is a follow up from the national IQ tests that they do with scary Anne.

I personally could watch either SF/Fantasy or cookery programmes all day - poor me you might think, but I love cooking and I learnt to read by reading the Eagle at a very very early age. I once won a sixpence for being the first person in our class to learn the times tables up to 10 - so a little bit of competition is really worth while - I use them almost every day. I still cannot speel, but then I am slightly dyslexic.

[IAN_S]

I watched the final of this programme last night and was amazed by these kids. Over 100,000 took part all over the country mostly organised by their schools, who will get a load of IT stuff if their entry wins.

I think that this is the sort of programme that will encourage children, and their parents, to want to spell better than they do after years of the "don't worry that you may not spell it correctly, as long as people understand you" claptrap.

I'd rather watch this than things like the obnoxious Big Brother ,Who wants to be a Millionaire etc. Both prime time rubbish that should be on in the middle of the night.

[Miki]

No one will ever convince me that prime time TV is the place to watch a flipping spelling competition !

It's just laughable, it was on even later the other night. If you think it will encourage kids (I seriously doubt it to be honest) well OK then put it on for kids at kids hours. What programmes one prefers to other ones, is not the point. We would be here until the end of time, if we were to discuss what's better than what.

It is no more than cheap TV, boring as hell for the few minutes I saw it and if you watched it, fair enough but give me a break it's pure rubbish TV and even worse than hundreds of other crap programmes.

What next, watching local school sports days live on TV ?

Interesting, oh yes if your little Tarquin is in it, if not sheer hell to watch, just like watching other peoples sprogs spelling simple words out on prime time TV.

Grrrrrrrrrrr

 

[hoverfrog]

I think they get away with it because it's the sort of program you'd like your kids to watch - and if it's on then they are more likely to do their homework!! Bit like wanting healthy options on the menu but still only buying chips

I must admit we turned it off - not because the 13 yr-old had done her homework, but because we felt embarrased by not being able to spell the final round! Mind you, we do know where the dictionary is, which is more than the present UK education system seems to impart to the youngsters of today!

Who remembers the advert campaign - "so how are we going to get Gerald (the giraffe) to the zoo??" "I don't know, but I know a man who does" ???

[Tom]

There was a documentary film released last year called Spellbound,  about the national spelling competition for schoolkids in the States. It followed about 8 competitors and their families. Definitely worth seeing, lots of funny moments and suprisingly tense.

The father of one of the kids was a Mexican who didn't speak any English even though he had lived in the States for about 20 years. He was immensley proud that she had done so well.

It seemed to be good discipine for the kids and in some cases helped them understand the roots of words. 

[Dick Smith]

"Mind you, we do know where the dictionary is, which is more than the present UK education system seems to impart to the youngsters of today!"

I get riled by this sort of statement, having spent years teaching kids how to use dictionaries. Do you have any evidence for this pronouncement or is it just prejudice?

I understand you are a computer programmer, so how about I rubbish programmers on the basis of no evidence? How would you feel?

[Weedon]

The point is well made that the programme is not for prime time viewing however I have watched a bit of it and was in complete admiration for the youngsters on the (short) bit that I watched who managed to spell quite difficult words including many they had clearly never heard before. One of them stumbled over kerfuffle (not surprised) and had obviously never heard it before and who was the wally that invented the word anyway and who says his spelling is correct in the first place?

I worked with a chap who didn't like failing cars on an Mot because he didn't like writing, one of his best was INSERFISHENT and although wildly inaccurate is easily understood.

I remember my own children showing me their homework which very often contained many spelling errors and when I asked the teacher why they never corrected it I was told I was out of touch with modern teaching methods!

At least after watching the said spelling programme it reassured me that at least it balances out for the simpletons that get on "Weakest Link"

Incidently it took me 4 goes to type kerfuffle.

Weedon

[Dick Smith]

"I remember my own children showing me their homework which very often contained many spelling errors and when I asked the teacher why they never corrected it I was told I was out of touch with modern teaching methods!"

Madness! Always a small minority, and now (hopefully) done away with by the National Curriculum. All GCSEs and A levels now have 5% of their marks awarded for spelling, punctuation and grammar (known as the SPUG mark - sounds nasty).

What gets me at the moment is the use of text speak (or f**kwit as it is known on less decorous discussion forums).

C U tnt m8? Aaargh!

[Weedon]

C U tnt m8? Aaargh!

Sadly I suspect many youngsters are influenced more by things like texting than proper education and will leave school not knowing the correct way to construct a sentence and will be unable to get past the written stage in obtaining a job.

In my working life I saw enough written applications to be appalled that so many youngsters leave school virtually illiterate.

Weedon

[Will]

"In my working life I saw enough written applications to be appalled that so many youngsters leave school virtually illiterate"

Strangely enough (or perhaps not) this is a problem in France too. Employers offering on-the-job training to school leavers are expressing regret that may potential candidates are unable to meet basic standards of literacy and numeracy, according to the local papers.