I agree with cmguy - if your child is not the kind to stand up and be different and likes to blend in and be accepted, I would engineer social situations so that he is with peers who are smart (or more advanced academically) and that forces the child to give up the dumbing down. Personally, I never dumb down, embrace my uniqueness and have very few friends amongst my social group as a result (most of my friendships are through work where the peers are on the same wavelength). But, I have a blender son whose only aim is to please his peers by blending in - so, I ensure that he is accelerated in school, his extracurriculars are with kids more talented than him and that he goes to chess clubs with kids that have high ratings in the game etc. He is trying to keep up in some situations and that fixes the dumbing down.
