The amazing, incredible Zaila Avant-Garde

The kid can ball...kinda reminds me of Paige confidence-wise.

The best thing about this kid is that she is well rounded and still excels at a couple of things. Our society has shifted toward this one-trick-pony, focus on one thing, mentality and it is nice to see a counter example.

I find the attention on her race as counterproductive. In some ways it detracts from her accomplishment. We should appreciate her gifts and acknowledge her efforts. Those things are great by themselves and adding race makes it feel like we are only doing so because of her race. And it sends a mixed message to other kids. Yes, it shows an example of a black kid accomplishing these things but it also highlights that it is unusual. Just congratulate the kid for what she did and let the world process it for itself.

Back to the well rounded point. I have found it disturbing that parents have shifted more and more to riding their kids to focus on fewer and fewer things. They do this in an attempt to create a child that is great at something. They do it to satisfy their own egos. I have personally observed what I can only call parental psychological abuse. These parents literally rob their children of their childhood in an attempt to have something to brag about. While we celebrate a successful and, yet, well rounded, kid weep for those who she defeated. Most of those kids on the stage at the end lost their childhood for nothing. And, trust me, many of them will receive more parental abuse when they get home.

My son went to grammar school with a recent spelling bee winner. We know the family well. This has given us a rare inside peek at what goes on in the lives of many of these kids and it is tragic. This particular kid parlayed his bee win to an admission to Princeton. He struggled in his first semester as many kids do. His parents were so angry that he might not get into medical school that they threatened to pull him out of Princeton unless he got all As. Another girl my kids knew who got into Cornell was told that she was a disappointment because her sister got into Columbia.

There is more than one reason to cheer this girl's bee victory but race isn't one of them. The shock that this is sending through a certain community in this country is. Sadly, I doubt it will change their behavior.