A Different Sort of Prejudice
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008By Glinda
A few weeks ago, I ran into the mother of a former classmate of the Munchkin’s. I hadn’t seen her since June, so we spent a few mintues chatting. After we found out that we are political twins, talk rolled around to our local schools. I mentioned that I wasn’t that fond of the current principal of Munchkin’s school, and she suggested I transfer him over to the school her son is attending.
I expressed interest, and then asked if that school had a gifted program, which is also at the Munchkin’s school. She said that it didn’t and that she wasn’t impressed with the program and how it was run. She thought her oldest daughter might test as gifted, but she insisted that she would not enroll her in the program.
I asked why, and she said, “Because I don’t want her thinking she is better than anyone else.”
My eyes goggled out of my head for a moment, and I excused myself and picked them up off the floor.
“But,” I replied after I regained my mental composure, “people and kids are always going to think they are “better” than others, and a lot of the time it isn’t even true! So if your child is academically gifted, what is wrong with acknowledging that?”
Indeed, what is wrong with that?
Parents have no problem boasting that their child is a prodigy in violin, or taekwondo, or drawing, or photography, or any other discipline. But if a parent says that their child is academically gifted, an awkward gap suddenly yaws in the conversation.
Many people seem to think that the gifted programs in our public schools are simply a case of elitism. Why, academically gifted kids don’t need any special attention! They can get along just fine!
But yet these same people would chafe if their musically gifted son was to share a class with students who could barely pound out “Chopsticks.” They would feel their child was getting shortchanged.
Why should the parent of an academically gifted child feel differently?
Smart kids aren’t perfect. They don’t excel at everything, and come with their own set of challenges. But lately there seems to be a huge backlash against “smart” people, which sometimes even extends to teachers within the system itself. We are turning into a culture which celebrates mediocrity and dubious achievement a la Paris Hilton.
Everyone should be encouraging the next generation of high-achieving doctors, lawyers, educators, and scientists instead of feeling threatened, or insecure, or whatever feeling leads you into thinking they don’t deserve special attention.
Because if you have the choice of a neurosurgeon who got straight A’s versus one with a C average, we already know which one you are going to pick.
So get over it, already.