Labeling a Child as "Gifted" Can Screw Up Their Adulthood

I can agree with this article, and from experience. I was a 'smart' kid - the I-Q test I got at age 10 showed I was 136, or in the top 3% in intelligence. And my parents celebrated this, and my teachers celebrated this, and I ran through my school-days very easily. I learned math and science, history and social studies without a blink. And I became LAZY! After high-school, I found I'd never learned how to study, and U. of Waterloo was difficult. Eventually I dropped out in third year, and looked for work. Being smart isn't the answer. Parents and educators should praise Hard Work and progress, not intelligence.

I completely agree with the essence of this article. I was one of those (barely) gifted children. Throughout elementary school, teachers and administrators pushed hard for me to be placed in the next higher grade, In high school I was placed in the next higher grade's math and science classes. Personally, I hated every moment, not because of the more difficult material but because I perceived other students resenting my being there. I felt this from the older kids and well as the ones in my regular classes. I would mildly protest by not doing nearly as well in those classes as I could have. (As a side note, each year as soon as we would get our new textbooks I'd take them home and stay up nights reading them. Within two weeks I would have read every page and understood most of it. It made the rest of the school year boring.) My parents were against what the school wanted. They knew I was uncomfortable but gave in on some of the school's requests. At the end of tenth grade and within a week of turning 16 (minimum age in which it was allowed) I quit school and and a year later enlisted in the military. I did quite well in my post military career achieving high corporate positions and retired at 62 a multimillionaire. I don't know what the optimal solution in would have been other than leaving me alone.