[tennteacher]

This is a non-issue.

She is a kid who did better under scrutiny than most kids her age.

She needs our kindness. Leave her alone. Her critics have been so cruel.

[ApplegateRanch]

She is a kid who did better under scrutiny than most kids her age.

Oh, I see: cut her slack because she is slightly less uneducated/stupid than most uneducated/stupid present day students?

Yes indeed; do not hold her accountable for her inarticulate, uninformed answer to a simple question posed during a SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST, AKA meat-pageant. This was not some pop-question, man-on-the-street/Jay-Walking ambush.

Still, I guess it is eeeevil, mean-spirited, cruel (AND unusual) to expect accountability and performance, if it means bruising her unearned and seeminly unjustified self esteem.

[SoftballMominVA]

I agree that this is a spectacle that has run its course. The kid screwed up pretty bad, but who here didn't screw up in some way at 17? She placed herself in a position that if she screwed up, it would be broadcast for everyone to see and mock. Not too many kids would even put themselves in that position.

There are mistakes I've made in the last month I wouldn't want repeated over and over for the rest of my life.

She wants to be a doctor one day, hopefully she will learn from this mistake and be a stronger person.

It's played out - taking any further is just petty.

[oldvike]

SHE put herself in a position to be made fun of by entering a highly public event such as that beauty contest. She gets NO sympathy from me. In fact, I’m still LMAO at her.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

She is a kid who did better under scrutiny than most kids her age.

I agree with your assessment.

She did as best she could while being nervous and flustered.

I wonder, do parents who home school teach their kids how to perform under extreme pressure? Is that why there have been so many calls here for homeschooling in response to this young lady's flummoxed answer?

[ken21]

i’ll pretend you did not say what you said.

[goodnesswins]

She’s in a pageant....”critics have been cruel?” She has to know going in that whatever she says and does will be up for SCRUTINY. Welcome to the real world.

[expatguy]

It is quite clear that people like you have become part of the problem rather than the solution.

Don't expect Americans to pander to this idiocy and buy into your vain attempt to lionize this girl and don't you DARE try to claim that this is a non-issue.

Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“This is a non-issue.

She is a kid who did better under scrutiny than most kids her age.

She needs our kindness. Leave her alone. Her critics have been so cruel”

She’s 18 and had a brain freeze while speaking in public. It’s easy to make fun of her, but people should back off.