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There She Is...
Young Women and Beauty Pageants By Teri Brown
The following tips will help your daughter get the most out of the pageant experience:
- Your attitude about it is everything. Have an attitude of fun and your daughter will too.
- Be supportive, but not overbearing. Teens, especially, enjoy encouragement, but dislike feeling manhandled. Allow them to make some choices about what they will wear and what they will perform in the talent competition.
- Don't bankrupt the family. The more money your child sees you spending on the pageant, the more pressure they will feel to perform well. This subtracts from their enjoyment of the experience.
- Help them to feel comfortable with their makeup, hairstyle and clothes – you can find low-cost or free experts in department stores. By helping your teen feel more confident in how she looks, the more likely she is to be herself and have a positive experience.
- Steer your daughter clear of piranhas. Most pageants have a stage mom or two that need to be avoided at all costs. Most moms in pageants are very nice, but one piranha can ruin the experience for your child.
Tami Farrell and other teens who compete in various pageants across the United States usually gain quite a bit out of the experience if they are the ones who initiate the interest. They can gain confidence, friends and maybe even some scholarship money. And what teen doesn't enjoy the chance to have their voice heard? That is one of the things Farrell is looking forward to most.
"I believe that the title of being Miss Teen USA is going to be a wonderful experience that not only gives me a microphone to be heard, but a platform to spread the issues that we, as teens, face everyday," says Farrell.
With a little care, caution and a sense of fun, you and your teen can both enjoy the pageant experience. She may get to travel, meet some wonderful people and try different things. And isn't that a part of growing up?