Girl Wins Hannah Montana Tickets with Essay About Dad Dying in Iraq. Too Bad It Was a Lie.
Teens, tweens and kids will do anything to see Hannah Montana, including lying about their fathers dying in Iraq, it appears.
A six-year-old Garland, TX girl won Hannah Montana concert tickets with an essay that started, "My daddy died this year in Iraq ..." However, her mother has admitted that the story was in fact false.
The contest was run by Club Libby Lu, a store that, according to their site, aims "to create special memories by encouraging tween girls to express their imaginations and individuality. Club Libby Lu offers products and experiences that promote a unique shopping experience that makes every girl feel special."
The contest was the "Hannah Montana Rock Your Holidays Essay Contest." First prize was the trip to see Miley Cyrus in concert as Hannah Montana.
Club Libby Lu still plans to give the prize to the girl. It includes airfare for four to Albany, NY, as well as four tickets to the sold-out Jan. 9 Hannah Montana concert.
"We told a 6-year-old today that she was going to see Hannah Montana, and we're not going to renege on that," said Robyn Caulfield, spokesperson for the store.
But by doing so, aren't they in effect condoning lying? What sort of an example is that for children? Personally I feel this is the wrong decision. Readers?
Additionally, it's unclear who came up with the idea for the lie, as the mother apparently went along with it at first. While company officials did no background checks on the entries, the girl's mother, Patricia Ceballos told company officials that the girl's father, Army Sgt. Jonathon Menjivar, had died in a roadside bombing April 17 in Iraq.
However, DoD records show that no one by the name Jonathon Menjivar has died in Iraq.
The full text of the essay is:
"My daddy died this year in Iraq. I am going to give mommy the Angel pendant that daddy put on mommy when she was having me. I had it in my jewelry box since that day. I love my mommy."
7 comments:
Did she win because they thought her dad died in Iraq or because they thought it was a good essay? Was it required to be true as part of the rules of the contest?
I think disqualifying her would send the wrong message too. Besides, her mother clearly doesn't mind condoning lying.
If the rules stated the essay had to be non-fiction, take her tickets away. If fiction is allowed, stop whining.
Fiction or not...writing an essay of that nature is just WRONG! It is an assault on those individuals who truly did have family members who were killed in Iraq. The mother obviously wrote the essay, and allowed her daughter to enter it in the contest. The six year old did not do this by herself. The mother said on air that "we did what we had to do to win" It is a shame that parents will teach their children that CHEATING AND LYING will make them a winner. I am glad that Libby Lu has decided to take the tickets away frim this family, because the mom had no intentions of giving them back...what a LOOSER!
If it is not in the rules then the store is wrong.
"Fiction or not...writing an essay of that nature is just WRONG!"
So then all the fiction books that are written about war and death are wrong? I suggest a trip to the library it is filled with these same type of stories. You should start protesting immediately! If I was the parent I wouldn't worry about the tickets because they will be able to see all the shows they want after the lawyers are done getting them a boatload of money and rightfully so.
I would suggest to the Mother of this child to take a trip over there and see firsthand the horror of a combat zone and spend a little time and a thought for those men and women who served there and came home in a casket. It
is not my intention to heap scorn on this Mother but i would ask her to next time to STOP AND THINK
PERFECT!!!
This pretty much says it all. I had a brother who died in Iraq. Sometimes this kind of attention is the only way to get losers, like you ney sayers, to remember. I think if it's not in the rules of the contest, then "Libby Lu" should HONOR their agreement. Or, are our soldiers the only ones who should?
If it is not in the rules then the store is wrong.
"Fiction or not...writing an essay of that nature is just WRONG!"
So then all the fiction books that are written about war and death are wrong? I suggest a trip to the library it is filled with these same type of stories. You should start protesting immediately! If I was the parent I wouldn't worry about the tickets because they will be able to see all the shows they want after the lawyers are done getting them a boatload of money and rightfully so.
January 2, 2008 5:29 AM
I believe the store should take the tickets back from the family for two reasons, one: like mentioned before, how could you write about a family member dying in Iraq, when they have no idea what thats like, and two: so many other little girls put their hearts into their essays, they should have the chance to win the tickets, not a mom who condones lying and cheating.
Either way, if the essay was supposed to be fiction or non fiction, they led the store to believe that she lost her father in the war...its just wrong.
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