Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Sports vs. Academics

I have an idea (uh-oh). I was wondering what you think could make it more socially acceptable and popular to recognize GT kids in school - to get coverage like sports, drama, etc. Seems to me that part of the issue is that there is not constant output (e.g., prizes, teams and contests). Sort of the problem the Olympic sports face in non-Olympic years - no coverage, everyone tends to forget about them, no coverage, no money. Also seems to me that while it may not be cool to be smart as kids, it's definitely cool and well-respected to be smart as adults. What has to happen to get that to trickle down to the kids? A public service campaign by Bill Gates? (only half-joking)

If I can come up with a concise issue, I have someone in mind who might be able to write about it.

And by no means am I bashing sports - I love sports, was a competitive athlete through college (and beyond, but unfortunately, not to infinity and beyond), and earn my living through sports. Also, I should remind everyone that student athletes live with negative stereotpyes, too - the "dumb jock," for one, and are under constant pressure to win, sometimes "at all costs." In other countries, that same pressure is applied to academics with the same resultant emotional trauma on the kids.

Anyway, I'm just wondering what the issue is and if there's a solution; if there are answers, not just complaints.

Speaking of Bill Gates, I just read an article on him this morning in Fortune magazine (July 7 issue, I think). He has retired from Microsoft and is spending 1 day a week there, 2 days a week at his foundation, and 2 days a week at an office where he can learn and think and solve problems. He's looking for ways to improve the world. Of course, he's looking at big problems (curing malaria, understanding immunizations, energy crisis) but, seriously, if we could get on his radar screen, we just might get some help from him in this area. Sounds farfetched, I know. But he's really trying to help the world. He might seriously be interested. So, if you (or anyone else) would like to work on a way to approach him, I'm in.

Seems like it might be something he'd be interested in. I mean, he's into education and concerned about the dumbing-down of America, so GT ed seems like it would be up his alley...It seems worth a try if someone has the gumption to do it!

What do you mean by "a concise issue," Questions? What exactly are you looking for? I'm happy to help, but not sure I understand what you're after.

Kids pick on anyone who is different. Furthermore, smart kids tend to hang by themselves when placed with age-peers so they are not part of a group and thus are not protected or welcomed by their relations with the kids' friends. Thus high achievement is associated with unpopular kids.

As for sports - a lot of kids play sports and watch it on TV so they can relate to what is going on. That makes it popular.

School and academics ( unlike most sports as they are taught ) requires discipline and attention for most kids. That is painful. Academics is not seen as play - and it is not. If sports were taught as academics - then kids would be at it 8 hours a day - many would not longer "play" at that level of commitment.

Sports were the only connection I felt with my age-peers and it allowed me to make friends with many people whom I otherwise would not have talked to. IMHO, GT kids should be in sports for this very reason.

Its not so cool to be smart as an adult, either. A friend, from China, has a PHD in Physics from MIT. He works as a programmer. he only lists his BS in Math from UT. Another friend has a perfect score on his industry certifications. He does not even list them nor his Masters. He also tones down his vocabulary and sentence detail in interview. Both men do this or they know they won't get hired. I keep my mouth shut at most of my job sites and just do the work they want. Its mostly useless to bring up higher-order issues because people either do not want to fix the real problems or they do not have the focus or horsepower to work through them, even when their current configuration is demonstrably costing them lots and lots of money. Even when you try to help people, they forget and go back to their old ways, and sometimes YOU get blamed for their mistakes.

As for Bill Gates, Microsoft has done more harm to the information age than they have helped it. Bill solved a business problem using a hack (DOS) rather than a full solution ( license VMS ) and it has caused untold misery ever since. Great marketing is all I can say!

But, my favorite joke I tell smart and not-so kids is:

"What do you call a nerd when he is 40?"

"BOSS!"

Hmmmm, well smart kids and adults are cool - to me!

Cool to me, too!!

I think this is an unfair stereotype. Some smart kids do this, just as some ND kids tend to hang by themselves. But many smart kids are highly social and quite well-liked, even by same-age peers. I was GT as a kid, and I had friends in virtually all social circles in my school. Were they all my bestest friends? No. But I could talk with anyone, and I was well-accepted by jocks, nerds, drama geeks, and even the student council socialites. I know I'm not the only one out there like this! I've seen kids who do great socially and are GT. I think it has more to do with personality and less to do with intelligence. I just don't think this stereotype holds water.

And I'd argue that smart adults tend to do pretty well in life, too. No guarantees, of course. There are lots of factors contributing to success. But it gets harder to get by on "popularity" (whatever that is) once you hit the real world, so actual skills and intelligence tend to make for a better chance of success in life.

I'm just not quite buying it...

I think smart adults and kids are cool too. We just need to convince the rest of the world as well.

Count me in for marching up to Bill, or any other big names that might be interested in gifted issues. It beats my half-finished Newsweek article for My Turn.

I'm not quite sure I do, either. I just know that we do a lot of complaining - well, complaining isn't the right word, but we do talk a lot about how delicately the children and adults have to tiptoe around the GT issue and advocacy efforts. I suppose it's really about changing the world we live in, and how to go about it.

And there have been plenty of articles about how perverse it is that the football coach gets more money than the Nobel laureate physics professor, but that brings the money into the school to pay the physics professor's (comparatively paltry) salary.

I guess I'm just thinking out loud - is there an issue here that can be publicized in some way to influence public opinion? I suppose that's what Davidson is trying to do with its pr department and article clipping service (e.g. the list of current GT articles of interest). Maybe the question is how to bring that campaign grassroots, how to describe it, and publicize it?

Okay, I'm just rambling... I'm already far afield of my original thought to get a national sportswriter to address the issue of academics vs. sports in the schools.

I'd love to approach Bill Gates, and rally for money for educational solutions. I'd think he'd be interested in hearing what we have to say, especially if we approach it from the educational plight of gifted kids in public education. It's a specific enough topic that he might actually be able to draw attention to it. He might also be in a position to able to invest money into a campaign that might be taken seriously.

Interesting thought, that ...

As for being "cool," I know all sorts of gifted kids, from very popular to well-liked to "alternative" to sporty to nerdy. Gifted kids run the whole gamit, just like ND kids. And quite honestly, I don't know how effective that sort of a campaign could be -- if you convince to teenagers (or any group) that something is cool, they're likely to run in the other direction just to spite you!