BTW, the book and I were born the same year...
Told ya! I was born in the same year as Obama.
LOL - I'm much closer to 'O' - and I think I read the book from my parent's bookshelf (so that means it was in paperback) - sometime between the age of 10 and 16. Don't know why I bothered to retain it, except that I have a soft spot for 'contrarian' ideas. Kriston, I'll bet you did overhear your parents talking about it 'back then' so that makes you precosious too.
I also read 'I'm OK, You're OK' during that period - I wasn't ready for Jane Austin, but loved pop psychology/sociology! Now that I think of it, I'm still probably spouting what I read in that book.
And now, as a special Saturday morning treat - The problems of highly gifted children age 3-10 as seen through the 'I'm OK, You're OK' mindset.
I'm OK, You're OK: A child who is taught at their readiness level develops trust in themself and trust in the Adults who are in charge of them.
You're OK, I'm not OK: The Athorities put me in a classroom full of kids who can only do 'baby work,' and I can barely manage to force myself to do that - so I must be really stupid, and the Grown up know it!
I'm not OK, You aren't OK: School is terrible. The adults are stupid and I'm stupid too.
You aren't OK, I'm OK: My Adults are clearly stupid. I'm smarter than they are. I don't know everything, so if I run into a situation I can't handle, I'm out of luck. No wonder I'm so anxious and sad.
(If I remember correctly, this last position, although appealingly close to the truth at times, is the most dangerous - it is the one that really fills the definition of 'depriving a child of their childhood.')
I think that my DS had been in all of these 'positions' over the years. I'm grateful that he's in a -
I'm mostly OK, You are mostly OK, but we are human, so we all have weaknesses and make some mistakes.
Ahh! The joy of having the years knock the edges of that 'all or none' thinking!
I hope that brings back more happy memories than sad ones. I'm LOLing just to see what I can remember from way back then!
Love and More Love,
Grinity
