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A 12-year-old student is working toward degrees in physics and math at Florida International University -- after taking his first class there two years ago.
It's Friday at Florida International University, which means a few things for Sky Choi: physics lab, Calculus II -- and a trip to the game room.
Pembroke Pines boy, 12, tackling a double major at FIU - South Florida - MiamiHerald.com (http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/1007907.html - broken link)
Anyone who thinks it's a good idea to send a small child off to the pressures of university at such a young age is beyond me. I'm lucky in my life to have come across some true geniuses, several of whom were sent to college courses at 13/14.. and all were burnt out by 18. There's nothing good about being a boy genius surrounded by a world of normal people and this poor kid will suffer socially for the rest of his life.
I told my 11-year old daughter about the facts of the case. No opinions. Her answer was spot on. She felt that he probably did not enjoy it and that most likely he was doing what his parents wanted. She added that while he must be smart, the cost of going to school in terms of being a kid and having fun was too high. It was about the most intelligent and mature conversation I could have imagined. Very proud papa.
As for the kid, the snippet I saw seemed to suggest a happy kid, so I won't jump to conclusions. Every kid has their own pace and potential. Let's hope that he is in his groove...
But as for the parents, I have to wonder. I am reminded of a kid that got his PhD from UC Santa Cruz in Physics at age 11 (about 15-20 years back). He was really messed up for a bit. He ended up rejoining his peers as a freshman at Santa Clara and intimated that he was finally happy. I would have tried everything to keep him with his peers even if his math was out of sight. Time will tell...until then I will go by what my daughter said...
What a NERD!!!! When I was in college, I was a jock, and it was our duty to pick on the NERDS!!! I would see a nerd and I'd announce it to my frat brothers - "NERRRRDDDD!" and then we'd all chant "NERD! NERD! NERD! NERD!...." and our one frat brother, Ogre, would growl and threaten them if they didn't hurry up and leave and stop ruining our view of the campus.
I told one of those nerds once, "You know why you're a nerd? Because I'm the kind of person everyone wants to be like, and you're pathetic. And there's nothing you can say, or do about it. Comprende?" Wow that guy was such a nerd with his big thick glasses and pocket protector.
So this child will end up with a degree at 16 or 17. At 26 or 27 he would have a degree anyway - so what's he going to do with those "extra" ten years? Get a job at a premier research institute? No. Get a tenured teaching job? No. Become a scientist at a major lab? No. He's too young. They won't want him because he's a liability, lacking the life experience that comes with being allowed to be a normal teen and young adult.
I see this early push into college as wasted years of this child's life. He's not learning how to talk to young adults, how to react when his peers offer him drugs or persuade him to stay out late, how to talk to girls (or boys) he likes, how to fall out of a 2nd floor window at a party and survive...you know, college stuff. College is as much about socialization and routinization as it is about book learning and practical application. This child has probably learned all his discipline from his parents and in that respect he might be a capable employee, very obedient...but he'll lack independent thinking that's so important in scientific research.
The parents are probably trying to do a good thing, but I think this is really misguided. However, Ruth Lawrence, who studied at Cambridge University at 13, seems to have turned out relatively okay - so maybe this child will too.
Anyone who thinks it's a good idea to send a small child off to the pressures of university at such a young age is beyond me. I'm lucky in my life to have come across some true geniuses, several of whom were sent to college courses at 13/14.. and all were burnt out by 18. There's nothing good about being a boy genius surrounded by a world of normal people and this poor kid will suffer socially for the rest of his life.
Charolastra, with all due respect, I would like to strongly disagree with you. Although I can understand how powerful personal experience may be in shaping our opinions of things, and clearly your personal experience is no exception here, anecdotal evidence does not make for an overall valid argument.
Time and again, the studies that have been done with extremely gifted children have demonstrated that academic acceleration (yes, including to the college level) is the most beneficial approach, whether we define "beneficial" as psychological or academic. In this case, did you read Sky's comment about how well-suited he was, and how underchallenged he believes (and correctly, I am confident in saying) he would have been at middle school? His parents are giving him an appropriate education for his ability - rather than attempting to place him according to his age, which certainly would be inappropriate.
Again, with all due respect to the "true geniuses" you have known and their unhappy experiences, the statistics don't suggest on the whole that acceleration does anything except finally put a gifted child with his or her intellectual peers-- nor do I think your observation is true for this specific child.
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