I guess my skepticism comes from this - I do not automatically accept that studies that are done on the "masses" necessarily hold true for gifted kids. I'm not doubting the stats are out there; I'd just be curious whether any of those studies target high IQ children....
My kids were EXHAUSTING when they were toddlers, and their quest for knowledge was insatiable. Even their play was more intense than my friends' kids. They didn't do anything in moderation - it was all forces ahead from the time they woke up until they went to bed.
If they don't do anything in moderation wouldn't screens be more of a concern rather than less of a concern? I guess I'm not getting the logic for believing that the negatives of screens would apply less to highly gifted kids. If anything it would seem intensity may make it more problematic (though certainly perhaps more desirable for parents).
Good point. I guess I need to explain what I meant. When my kids got interested in something, it was never in moderation. When the little one decided dinosaurs were his passion, it was dinosaurs all day every day - everywhere. We were dinosaurs in the car, in the park, during supper, and in all forms of play. This lasted for probably 18 months until he moved on to space. When my older kids decided they liked climbing, they didn't just like it, they trained for hours every week until they were nationally ranked.
It isn't that they don't use the computer in moderation; I simply don't limit it so that it is a tool, not forbidden fruit. When the questions were beyond my capacity for the day (sorry, but it did get there on some days) the computer access allowed them to continue to explore their interests through research, videos, etc.
They are all very physically active and creative. One summer when the youngest was four, he wrote a play, composed the accompanying music and badgered all of us into performing it for him. But he did use the computer to write the play. I didn't limit the time he spent, but when he'd had enough, he got down and did something else.
So when I say my kids didn't do anything in moderation, I don't mean they spent 18 hours a day staring into a screen. I mean they're driven, highly energetic kids who don't take in any endeavor halfway.
