Oh yeah, well when I was a kid my mom used to force me to take piano lessons. I hated it, not because I had any particular aversion to music or the piano as an instrument. But because I had been thrown into a situation in which I didn't understand. I didn't know why I had to learn piano, I didn't like the teacher and I hadn't met the other kids in the class and I was learning about the treble and bass clef. What the hell were the treble and bass clef. I didn't know, I had no clue what an octave was but I was supposed to play an octave higher. It used to bring me to tears. I hated it.
i think it's creepy, and as olhip said, basically exploiting young children. it's one thing to me, if a teenager or adult dcides to compete in pageants, but another altogether to force a little kid to do it. you can say what you will about these competitions teaching poise and confidence, and whatever else, and maybe they do, but the biggest part is that they teach you that it is above all important to be "perfect" and "beautiful". those are NOT the ideas that i want to push onto my kids.