I dont know if many of u saw this programme on Channel 4 last night called Child geniues. There gonna follow these children thru their childhood in a series of programmes well into their adulthood and see how they turn out and whether the system has worked for them or failed gifted children. Well i was both amazed and sad at how these children live. These kids have NO childhood whatsoeva. Parents just seem to push and push them work wise. This little asian boy aged 3 was the youngest eva kid on mensa but his parents made me sick. Instead of letting the little boy play, they’re obsessed with hothousing him. He went back for a retest at mensa and he scored a lower IQ cos his parents have been pushing him in maths and nothing else. 
Thing is while i was watching this programme i found out something very shocking abt my hubby. He was child genius/prodigy. When he was younger he went in for an IQ test at mensa and scored 170-i was so shocked cos thats what these kids were getting and u cant get any higher than that. He said he neva really told me abt it cos he didnt think it was important. He said he was offered a place at cambridge university when he was 10 to do a maths degree. He said his parents and skool didnt know what to do with him cos he was too bright for the system. Some parents on this programme were at their wits end cos they didnt know how to handle such a gifted child as he would out argue the parents.
Im really shocked and even tho im amazed im kinda intimidated at the same time. He believes having this “gift” is actually a curse cos no1 knows how to handle a child genius b it the school or the parents and he said a lot of them turn out to be really screwed up in adulthood cos they neva have a real childhood. My hubby used his gift to his advantage and is very wealthy and successful as a result but i cant help but feel sorry for these kids who r pushed and robbed of a childhood.
Do u think its a gift or a curse?
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
ive never really gotten a child genius but i would prefer something more practical like an Ipod.
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
I guess we will have to get u married to an i-phone or something ravage.
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
mmm... iphone..
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
I dont think its a curse, because I think children whether they are geniuses or not, can be exploited by their parents.
Whatever Allah gave you is a gift, and when these kids grow up they can decide for themselves what to do with their lives.
I know quite a few geniuses Mash'Allah and most people dont even know of this because they dont tell most ppl about it.
As far as education goes, yes I do think that schools dont always offer programs for students that are advanced.
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
I know a child who is 15 and very bright. He is neither cursed nor blessed, he is an annoying child with a smart mouth who still can't out-banter me. Admitidly he passes his maths test with greater ease than I and given the opportunity would score better in my exams than I - however he is very active outside the school community and spends more of his time aggrevating his siblings than focusing ridiculously on his studies. The childhood of any child is a product of their upbringing. Bright children with pushy parents probably do have unfortunate childhoods - but then again there are many "average" children in equally undesireable circumstances.
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
yeah, i agree that most of us don’t know very well, how to handle such kids. Sometime ago a thread was opened by this girl, who was 15 with very good IQ … some responses to her were not appropriate, or atleast did not realise that she was different from other teens … I didn’t see her after that.
This was that thread: http://www.paklinks.com/gs/showthread.php?t=237530
And it is interesting to see that, at the age of 15 when teens are enjoying life, she is extremely worried abt getting a good mate for her.
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
It depends on the abilities and interests of the child and how the parents interpret and approach the whole thing. SOme child genius/prodigies have very special abilities in certain areas and are severely lacking in others - most especially social interaction with peers. Probably because their peers are so different from them. So it really depends on how the parents take the whole thing and how much or how little they allow their child to grow in ways that the child is ABLE to grow.
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
we have wron guidance too. I dont consider myself a child genius or anything, but I was ahead for my age, and thus ent pretty much directly to 1st grade, the school thought I was too advanced and convinced my folks that I need to go to 3rd grade rather than 2nd grade after i finish the year. It put me in a situation where I was dealing with kids who were older than me, and aside from the subject matter and how difficult it was for a kid, I also had issues settling in the class socially. I was the smallest kid and bullied, thank good for good genes that I sprouted up and by the time I was in 8th grade I was not bully-able. and by the time i was in garde 11 and 12, i was among the tallest guys in class which helped.
I was miserable for the most part compared to others and it took much more effort on my part socially as well as academically to survive..rather than be at the top of class which I would have been had I not been moved to grade 1 when i should have been in kindergarten, and then not moved to 3rd garde right after first grade.
To give you an idea, when I fnished highschool, I was not 16 yet, I turned 16 a few months later. People dont realize that how even a few years are such a bif difference at a young age. My parents saw my struggles but were told it would be worse for me to be held back so to just let me keep pace. They declined similar offers regarding my brothers for them to be moved up. learning from this experience my neice who was identified as someone who should be accelerated by her school, my sister said no, and my niece is happy, top of her class and well adjusted among her peers.
Seeing the struggles I had, my parents decided that I can kinda just do other things for a year, take any courses here and there, but not start for my undergrad for another year. I started my undergrad at 17. I did make up for the lost time but finishing my undergrad in 5.5 years versus 4 :) dad used to say your major has turned into a colonel now. but It was in college, and especially sophomore year onwards that I finally felt settled among my peers otherwise
I can only imagine what kind of pressures the real geniuses and child prodigies feel by having experiences exponentially more challenign than mine.
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
what about those who pretended to be geniuses when they were kids, us lot get a lot of cursing too.
:(
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
There are programs - few and far between though - for the "gifted child". In these schools, the kids arent made to feel different, they are among peers, their own age, who are "different" also. This I think is really the only way. If you keep the child in a class of peers, a gifted child would be too bored. If you put them in with older kids because of their academic abilities, then they are way out of their social abilities. Either of those 2 situations can cause emotional scarring and will lead to problems. Being different from other kids in any way is always a problem so best to try to find the best place for the child that you have if your child turns out to be different.
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
only chitrol will help
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
Pir jee not everything is about you .. we're discussing child geniuses.. jumping a couple of jamaats because of your height doesn't count... :)
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
I am recounting personal experience the types of challenges one can face when one is put in situations that they are socially not ready for. because in jumping a few grades the type of pressures I felt, I can only imagine that for these child prodigy types it is exponentially tougher.
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
yes it was… thank you for understanding pir ji 
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
:)
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
amani06 - did you see the one with the dwarf people? and the guy who has such a strong memory? and there is antoher one coming on abt the child who changed heads or something like that....im tellin you...these programmes are so knowledgable
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
the child who WHAT??
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
changed heads you know, took head of one person and put it on another, what did you not get hitchki? :)
Re: Child geniuses-gift or curse?
i think it is both a curse and a blessing cos masallah these children were so intelligent but even ifelt for the kids not all of them but particulry the family of kids and they dont interact with other people at all cos they feel they r getting funny looks and then we have the three year old child mikaal he was so cute hehe but yh he is very intelligent in maths but they need to pursue other subjects as well cos he didnt kno wat a orange was.
the one guy dante who at 11 is going through depression really made me sad cos he was saying he wants to be prefect and that is wat get instilled into these children ig you constantly tell them u r so good u r so clever they want to do better and therefore become prefectionists.