Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Easing Pressure on Students Bares Ethnic Divide

Well, toxic in my terms, then. As I said, our school is no where near as competitive, and my DD is lucky in that she rarely needs to study, and frequently does homework and preparation for science Olympiad during her weakest classes. However, despite this, the volume of busy work she has to complete is extreme- she regularly gets up at 5am or earlier to complete work, and she has friends who get up at 3am. And these are not kids who are at sports practice every afternoon.

We also have a very competitive Asan population. There are parents who take their elementary and middle school kids to the high school awards ceremony, "to motivate them." They love to quiz my kids on now they achieved their success (awards=success.) They attend the science Olympiad tournament awards ceremony (not the competition, which is actually interesting) years before their kids are old enough to join the team. (I'm not clear why this is- either "motivation" or figuring out which kids to befriend and emulate.) Sure, this behavior may be normal in many countries. In my world, it is toxic. So far, we have been lucky enough to co-exist with it, but for less naturally able kids, it is certainly stressful.