| > 1. Getting punished for being smarter than some teachers. It doesn't have to happen often to really really sour things. I have witnessed teachers putting down bright kids hundreds of times. They often cloak it in concern. A lot of people interpret a smarter person than themselves as a cognitive insult, and will automatically try to bring the person they feel is smarter than them down a peg or two. This crab mentality is so prevalent, and gifted children feel things so acutely that I would encourage any gifted adolescent to drop out as soon as possible, get a GED and get on with their lives. They will be 7-8 years ahead of their peers at 23. A gifted child we be smarter than most of their teachers at all but the best institutions. Their time would be better spent reading books and learning from the eminent experts in their fields than some hack with a teaching certificate. Living in a place like NYC can replace the social aspect of the college experience just fine. There is no excuse for tormenting a gifted child with the ordinary school system. It is designed to produce the mid-level workers capitalism needs for it's factories and offices, it is not designed to imbue the best education possible on young minds. |