🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <C0Mvsy.ox@quake.sylmar.ca.us> brian@quake.sylmar.ca.us (Brian K.
Yoder) questions why a kid with a high IQ needs athletics just for "balance:"

>A "balance" between what and what?
>
>Knowledge and ignorance?
>Civilized adult behavior and irresponsible juvenile behavior?
>Intellectualism and anti-intellectualism?
>Reason and irrationality?
>Achievement and failure?
>Academic development and academic degeneration?
>
>What are you afraid of?  Such a student actually progressing beyond the
>point where his peers can catch up?
>
>>Athletics
>>(that's what was mentioned here) can provide that along with other
>>experiences that can teach him as much as any classroom ever could.  
>
>Such as?  Brutality uber alles?  The superior value of social consensus over
>reason?  Please explain these valuable lessons and why they are so
>terribly important.  I hear platitudes like that all the time, but I
>seldom hear any kind of explanation attached. 
>
>>If the kid likes something other than academics, let him at it. 
>
>I agree with that, but the point here is that schools need to encourage
>academic development, which is something that compared to the encouragement
>offered for athletic prowess is practically nothing.
>
Agreed, if a kid would rather read science books than play basketball, s/he
should be encouraged to pursue those interests.  But a kid
who makes good grades, understands things others don't, etc. is often labeled
a "nerd" or "geek" not because s/he lacks a personality, but because the others
are jealous.  Helping a kid to understand that attitude is crucial for survival
in, yes, the real world.  That's the world where enlightenment is often feared,
where facts are often subordinate to emotions.  If a kid with a high IQ is
going eventually to contribute to the improvement of that world (assuming you
care about human survival somewhat and would prefer to see intellect used
rather than hoarded like a toy), s/he has to understand it enough to find a
place in it. That implies the motivation to understand it.  Parents either
provide that motivation or destroy it ("you're better than the rest of those
kids; don't worry about them").  

Minds need to be nurtured, not isolated.  Knowledge is useless in a vaccuum.

This is why my gifted child is no longer in private school.  Some lessons
extend beyond what can be taught in a classroom.

Note that I do not advocate lowering one's intellectual standards in order
to accommodate the rest of the world, nor would I ever advocate my son's
doing so.  That's why we *must* teach a gifted child how to have different
expectations for him/herself and for others.  


Laurie Gelb
laurie@biomath.mda.uth.tmc.edu

Uncle Sam wants YOU...
to pay your taxes, obey his laws, and keep your mouth shut.