Are we fortunate to live in the U.S.? Of course! But "glass half-full" thinking doesn't get changes made to a system that has PLENTY of room for improvement, especially in terms of GT education. If I lived in Haiti, I'd be trying to fix the Haitian system. But I live here, and I'm concerned with trying to improve *our* not-perfect system!
I absolutely encourage those with concerns about such foreign educational tragedies (because that's what those are!) to get involved and fix them. I'll cheer you on. But this is completely irrelevant to the issue of OUR kids in OUR schools!
Sorry, but we're hitting on one of my soapbox issues. I'm trying not to soapbox, but I REALLY think low expectations are bad for GT kids! I think we need to demand more from our schools.
I keep thinking about the actions taken by the parents of kids of developmentally disabled kids in the 70s and 80s, and I thnk "Why don't WE do that!?! Why don't we get organized and push for required service in schools?"
The only answer I see is because we all feel somehow ungrateful or as if we don't have the right to want more for our kids. But if we keep focusing on what we have (and what others elsewhere don't have), we miss out on what we *could* have for our kids. This is NOT a helpful or useful approach, IMHO.
Do we disagree that the U.S.'s education system in general should/could be doing more for GT kids? Am I off base here?
