What happened to Miss Teen Queen?

Towards the end of the second term pupils from different schools converged at the hall for the pageant which was very popular among the pupils.

However over the past few years there have been numerous teen beauty pageants that have come and gone.

Many girls have been named Miss Teen this or that and the migration from that stage to be a professional model has not seen the light of the day.

In the past six years there have been five beauty pageants for teens namely, Miss Teen Queen, Miss Zim Schools, Miss Bulawayo Junior, Miss Teen Angel and Miss Bulawayo Schools.

The last was Miss Bulawayo Junior in 2009 that was won by 16-year-old Caroline Munatsi.

Parents are however not happy that most of these pageants are held at night.

This week Saturday Leisure spoke to some parents and people who have once organised these teen events.

“The modelling shows were held at night and imagine my child is a finalist and then she has to come home late. We live outside the city centre and transport is a problem. As a parent I will not have my child participate in such a competition,” said Helen Dube of Nkulumane 12.

She said in years gone by there was no problem with school children going for the evening shows, but because of the upsurge in violence due to teen drunkenness, parents were now reluctant to release their children for such shows.

“Bad things happen at night and because these organisers do not put stringent measures in ensuring that there is no alcohol consumption at these shows, we fear our children could be victims of violence. Our children can indulge in wayward behaviour and at least if they come home at about 6pm from the show it is better,” said Dube.

A local Dj and past organiser of Miss Teen Queen, Joe the OG, said parents were against the holding of the shows at night hence the interest in the shows had waned.

“The show was done at night and the majority of parents did not want to have their children being out at night. So for school children to be granted permission to go for the show by their parents became difficult, in fact impossible. Organising the event was now difficult as the school children will not be interested in the show because they know they will not attend,” said Joe.

He said another reason why he suspended holding the show was that there were now too many teen-modelling shows.

“This is why teen modelling has lost its thunder, as there are 25 other people doing a Miss this and that. Therefore people come and abuse the name Miss Bulawayo Junior, a concept we came up with, thereby spoiling its good name due to chaotic organisation,” said Joe.

In 2005 at Miss Schools, chaotic scenes were the order of the day at the City Pool after drunken youths were engaged in running battles with police. Most of the youths came to the show drunk; some smoking in full view of the public, while others fondled their girlfriends in public.

Some hurled insults at each other and had violent brawls in their drunken stupor.

Joe said such events had painted an ugly name for the teen beauty pageants.

He said Miss Teen Queen was a platform for amateur models to make a name for themselves and there was no connection with Miss Bulawayo.

“Miss Teen Queen is meant to give upcoming models an opportunity to showcase their talent,” said Joe.

What is true is that teen modelling is not the same anymore. The hype in schools is no more there and parents are always sceptical when their children ask to attend a show at night.