Originally Posted by ultramarina
The interesting thing about this thread is that in the end, not all of us in this forum are parents of PG kids.

So, I think I'm going to close this tab now, having been reminded of the general opinion of what my kids are doing to the education of yours.

I do realize this is the Davidson board. I guess I forget that sometimes.


I'm not really sure that anyone on this thread has much to apologize for. I understand that some people may feel slighted by some of the things that have been said here, but try to see it from the perspective of parents of highly gifted kids. HG+ kids think differently from other people. It seems completely reasonable to say that the education system should have a few spots where these kids can interact with others who are as bright as they are.

Yet HG+ kids are consistently denied appropriate learning environments, and the few opportunities available to them are frequently distorted by a parentally-driven status race. Worse, many educators and school districts are clueless about giftedness at best and hostile to it at worst. Many believe that once a student has mastered the grade-level stuff, he can be ignored. Others aim for "equity," a policy that's almost systematic about denying an appropriate education to HG+ students.

Honestly, your comment strikes me as saying that we shouldn't be be discussing differences between HG+ kids and other kids here because we might hurt someone's feelings. Hurt feelings are unfortunate, but what about the significant damage being done to HG+ kids by a system that feels free to ignore them or denigrate them? My feelings are hurt every time a teacher tells me that s/he doubts that my HG+ daughter is gifted. Teachers say this because their gifted = high achievement + teacher pleaser. But my feelings are the least of my worries. The damage done to my kids is much more important.

Last edited by Val; 04/02/14 09:10 AM. Reason: Fix typos.