When children grow up, they pick up habits and cues from their parents. Marcela Delgado of Merciad Mercyhurst University said that “young girls are ‘sponges’; they are at an age where they absorb everything around them, so it is not appropriate for them to absorb a materialistic mentality. Money spent on competitions teaches children to value material objects and the idea that it is important to spend the amount apparently necessary. The money spent on a single competition is $1,500 and could cost up to $3,500 (Sandberg). Many pageant girls pay for multiple outfits, professional hair and makeup, acrylic nails, and spray tans. According to the Pageant News Bureau, in 2002, the beauty pageant world earned $5 billion as an industry (Fleishman). Children should be taught to value education and have good morals, but instead, by spending so much money on these competitions, parents are teaching their children that money can be used instead of these competitions. things. In addition to the cost of the pageants themselves, according to a study verified by Women's News, 72% of girls in pageants hire coaches ("Child Beauty Pageant Statistics"). These pageant coaches teach girls how to walk, talk, smile and even wave. Girls hire coaches so they can become the perfect girl who is most likely to win in a competition based on her looks and mannerisms. Competition