Article - MIT at age 14, now changing the world - Gifted Issues Discussion Forum

He went to MIT at the age of 14, and now he's changing the world
By Dr. Boyce Watkins
The Black Homeschool
July 22, 2014

Quote

Halfway through the sixth grade, the work was just too easy. So, David�s mother petitioned to have him sent directly to high school. When the school said no, she simply did what any good parent would do: Worked around the system.

and

Quote

1) The in-home culture created by a child�s parents is one of the most definitive factors in determining that child�s outcomes...
2) Intellect means almost nothing without persistence and development...
3) Had David�s parents not had the courage to think outside the box, their sons would have merely been smart kids doing relatively good things, and not brilliant kids doing unbelievable things...

Kudos to these students, their parents, and to the author for making their story known and inspiring others. Dr. Boyce Watkins is also author of an e-book, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About College

I like hearing these stories but I get put off by the "and your kid can do this too if they try hard enough and you parent the right way" vibe.

I am just skeptical of the "intellect means almost nothing" part. Later in that paragraph it says "his intellect will help him a little".

I think a more realistic approach would be to say a kid that can do this at that age is intellectually probably one in ten thousand of same aged kids. Then among that small group, still fewer will have the executive function skills and maturity for actually doing advanced coursework at an elite university at 13. Then of that already very very small group, the kid would need to grow up in a supportive environment AND have the work ethic to actually make this happen.

I think it just irks me that we speak of natural athletes who become great athletes with hard work but to speak of the intellectual equivalent is taboo.

Originally Posted by KJP

I like hearing these stories but I get put off by the "and your kid can do this too if they try hard enough and you parent the right way" vibe.

I am just skeptical of the "intellect means almost nothing" part. Later in that paragraph it says "his intellect will help him a little".

I think a more realistic approach would be to say a kid that can do this at that age is intellectually probably one in ten thousand of same aged kids. Then among that small group, still fewer will have the executive function skills and maturity for actually doing advanced coursework at an elite university at 13. Then of that already very very small group, the kid would need to grow up in a supportive environment AND have the work ethic to actually make this happen.

I think it just irks me that we speak of natural athletes who become great athletes with hard work but to speak of the intellectual equivalent is taboo.

I didn't get that vibe. It seemed to me that the intended audience was parents of very bright children (the type of children that might be extremely bored in 6th grade.) Those parents may be familiar with paths to modest success, but not excellence. Thus, the explanation that it takes more than intellect to achieve great things.

Originally Posted by Space_Cadet

Originally Posted by KJP

I am just skeptical of the "intellect means almost nothing" part...

I didn't get that vibe. It seemed to me that the intended audience was parents of very bright children (the type of children that might be extremely bored in 6th grade.) Those parents may be familiar with paths to modest success, but not excellence. Thus, the explanation that it takes more than intellect to achieve great things.

Well said. I understood it this way, too. Great care was taken by the author to introduce the audience to the circumstances early in the article.

There may be danger in taking a few words out of context such as Intellect means almost nothing without persistence and development. However I do understand that the lived experiences of some readers may cause the first phrase of that sentence to elicit such a strong response, or hit in such a vulnerable spot, that the rest of the sentence does not register fully.

There may be a beneficial partnership of nature/nurture, and of intellect/practice.

It makes perfect sense to me, as a parent of a child who has the intellect to do something like that but doesn't have the motivation to get out of bed without a bucket of ice being poured over his head, that intellect means almost nothing without persistence and development.

It's necessary to HAVE the intellect, but having it isn't enough unless you do something with it as well.

It looks like it took him 10 years to get an MD-PhD at UCLA, 4 years MD and 6 years PhD, which is average in time. His father has a degree from MIT and his mother has a degree from Caltech, so quite a bright family!

Thanks so much for posting the article. I really appreciate. Intellect is part of the equation, but motivation and drive is another part of the equation too. The parents instilled some wonderful values here and they should be seen as role models. I applaud them.