My experience as a judge: (1) Young kids are more fun than older ones. Grade 6 kids have interesting ideas and explore them. Grade 12 kids work in their parent's labs. (2) We were told to pick the top female for a special award. I was thinking about this when another judge (a female) pointed out that there were almost no boys in the competition. Context: Canada, 10 years ago.
Are you suggesting that's "affirmative action" taken too far? (Is it the principle idea to expect roughly equal boys/girls, or more or less proportionate participation re: characteristics of eligible students?)
I can understand your comment about younger adolescents vs older ones. 12 year olds can be more genuinely curious and less "looking for an angle" than their older, near-college-age contemporaries. That's not universal by any means, among all kids curiosity is a trait we ought to encourage, not squelch.
