Hothousing is very easy to spot. For a start, the amount of unscheduled time a child has. Then there's the second guessing the parents engage in. It's really very very obvious.
On this we agree.
Hawk, do you know people with kids in those school systems? Let's say Lexington, Newton and Belmont in particular. When they describe them, do you think "great!" or do you cringe inside. I ask because I'm figuring out what to think of your town.
I know families from various towns because my son is a competitive chess player. Many gifted kids try out chess. Some stick with it and others leave it. Many players come from the towns you mention.
By the way, hot-housing in school doesn't even remotely compare to hot-housing in sports or activities like chess. I will never forget the look of the father of the champion at a recent national tournament. He was unhappy that his son did not win all his games, but had a draw in the final game. His son was national champion and the first words out of his mouth after finding out the result was "You had a draw? Why?" My guess is that the father didn't think the son would perform well at the world tournament, which was coming up a month later.
