stargabs-is-here:

noirandchocolate:

prokopetz:

What y’all think ‘gifted child’ discourse is saying: I used to be special and now I’m not and that makes me sad.

What ‘gifted child’ discourse is ACTUALLY saying: The way many educational systems treat children who’ve been identified as ‘gifted’ is actively harmful in that it a. obliges kids to give up socialising with their same-age peers in favour of constantly courting the approval of adult ‘mentors’ who mostly don’t give a shit about them, b. demands that they tie their entire identity to a set of standards that’s not merely unsustainable, but intentionally so, because its unstated purpose is to weed out the ‘unworthy’ rather than to provide useful goals for self-improvement, and c. denies them opportunities to learn useful life skills in favour of training them up in an excruciatingly narrow academic skill-set that’s basically useless outside of an institutional career path that the vast majority of them will never be allowed to pursue.

d. contributes to the disregard for or denial of mental health and stress-related issues and neurodivergency in kids, because “you’re gifted and getting perfect grades so you can’t possibly be autistic/have adhd/be suffering from anxiety, depression, cptsd, etc.!” (Either that or in the case of autism especially, your neurodivergence is considered solely as part of the academics-related “gift” so you don’t get any help for the symptoms related to socializing, overstimulation, etc.)

e. leads to kids labeled gifted getting punished, belittled, ignored, and/or bullied (even worse) rather than helped when they make a mistake or don’t understand something. “You’re gifted, you just weren’t trying hard enough!” “Ooo, who’s gifted NOW if you couldn’t get a 100 on the test?”

f. Ties their identities to “inherent” intelligence and comprehension skills which not only don’t matter outside of an academic setting but also fall apart early on in the education process (like middle or high school) as merely knowing and understanding the answers becomes of secondary importance to skills like time management, organization, and following prompts, which gifted children were never actively encouraged to learn.

g. Perpetuates the myth that intelligence and comprehension are inherent attributes that don’t need to be cultivated rather than skills that anyone can gain- or lose- depending on the amount of work or engagement they put in.