I had not even heard of Hannah Montana until about a month ago. She is obviously very popular with young girls and their mothers. A recent concert in a city near us created quite a stir. There were pictures in the paper and an article showing girls and their mothers attending the Hannah Montana concert together. Many of them arrived in limousines. The tickets for the concert were very expensive. I remember thinking that the amount of money spent for little girls to attend a concert seemed way over the top to me.
Now, an essay contest with a prize of a trip for four to see a Hannah Montana concert has become a big deal because the winning essay was not a true story.
A 6-year-old Garland girl whose winning entry in a Hannah Montana essay contest was found to be false won't collect the prize of seeing the singer in concert after all.
Mary Drolet, chief executive officer of Club Libby Lu, the company aimed at "tween" girls that sponsored the contest, announced Saturday that the prize was being withdrawn. The announcement came a day after a Club Libby Lu spokeswoman initially said the company would honor the prize even though the girl's father was not a soldier and did not die in Iraq, as the essay said.
I have to wonder who would expect a six year old to write an essay. Most six year olds are still learning to read and write simple words. They are exploring their worlds and expecting guidance from knowledgeable adults. Parents would probably have to help them enter a contest. Maybe a drawing competition would have been a better idea for this age group.
I also question the company that set up the standards for the contest. Did they specify that the essay had to be true? Did it occur to them to verify information prior to announcing the winner? It's kind of like the science fair projects that come in every year. Entries designed by parents are pretty obvious. I once had a student turn in a composition that was better than any work he had done in the past. Of course, the paper was not his work. I talked to his mother, and she told me that she had written the composition. Her comment to me was, "You know he can't write." She felt completely okay with doing the assignment.
A quote from the mother of the little girl who won the essay contest and tickets to the Hannah Montana concert reminded me of parents who go overboard and take over their children's assignments. "We wrote whatever we could to win," she said. "It said to write an essay. It never said it had to be true. I never said it was true. ... It was just an essay. We wrote whatever we could to win." I wonder who really wanted to win the trip.
The prize for winning the Hannah Montana Rock Your Holidays Essay Contest included airfare for four to Albany, N.Y., and four tickets to the sold-out Jan. 9 Hannah Montana concert there. The girl also was treated to a makeover, complete with blond wig, on Friday at the Club Libby Lu store at Garland's Firewheel Town Center.
I do feel sorry for the six year old child who won the contest, received a makeover, and then had to be told she didn't win after all. I wonder if she even knew what was written in her essay. Plus, a six year old getting a makeover just seems wrong to me. In my opinion, a six year old should get to enjoy being a six year old.