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It is my observation, in American society, that academics should be seen but not heard. To boast about academic or intellectual prowess is arrogant and condescending, and it makes people feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, to boast about athletic ability projects confidence and qualifies you as a leader. People are in awe of your abilities, and are even more enamored when you back it up with good banter and self-promotion on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
It is my observation, in American society, that academics should be seen but not heard. To boast about academic or intellectual prowess is arrogant and condescending, and it makes people feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, to boast about athletic ability projects confidence and qualifies you as a leader. People are in awe of your abilities, and are even more enamored when you back it up with good banter and self-promotion on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
yes, this is exactly what I talked about upthread. It's considered acceptable to boast about your child's accomplishments in athletics and in the arts - winning goal in the soccer game, made the varsity basketball team, won an award for a painting or at a dance competition.
It used to be ok to similarly mention that your child made the honor roll or got straight As, but now people say that it makes them sad or upset when people boast about their kids' report cards since their child isn't getting straight As or they post memes like the one I posted about how raising a child who is kind means so much more than raising one who gets good grades. Which is ridiculous because they aren't mutually exclusive in the first place but there are also no memes about how it's more important to raise a child who is kind because it means more than being able to score a soccer goal. It's just grades and academic achievements and intellectual ability that is considered fair game to be dismissive about.
Personally, I would just assume that people didn't know that our's is/was/oughta/could've "gifted". The saying of the higher you are, the harder you fall, could be very true and which we wish never to find out. It's embarrassing to say that the newspaper got the school wrong; DS wasn't accepted to MIT. He will be attending CMU. Then we get the stare and the question, "where is that?"
Moral: don't believe everything in the newspaper, now internet .
yes, this is exactly what I talked about upthread. It's considered acceptable to boast about your child's accomplishments in athletics and in the arts - winning goal in the soccer game, made the varsity basketball team, won an award for a painting or at a dance competition.
It used to be ok to similarly mention that your child made the honor roll or got straight As, but now people say that it makes them sad or upset when people boast about their kids' report cards since their child isn't getting straight As or they post memes like the one I posted about how raising a child who is kind means so much more than raising one who gets good grades. .
But is it really persecution if someone doesn't want to listen to someone boast about their child being gifted? That doesn't seem like something so terrible.
But is it really persecution if someone doesn't want to listen to someone boast about their child being gifted? That doesn't seem like something so terrible.
who mentioned anything about being persecuted besides you?
And my point was that if people think it's appropriate to talk about accomplishments of their own kid in athletics or the arts, I don't tell them not to do so because my kid happens to not have accomplishments in those areas. Why should academic accomplishments be singled out as being inappropriate to talk about when other areas of achievement are not?
I'm not talking about going on and on in a way that is annoying regardless of the subject, just that the people who post on facebook about their kid's dance competition and soccer games should not also be posting comments that say it makes them so sad when people post about their own kid's grades. Which is a real life situation I've been faced with.
It is my observation, in American society, that academics should be seen but not heard. To boast about academic or intellectual prowess is arrogant and condescending, and it makes people feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, to boast about athletic ability projects confidence and qualifies you as a leader. People are in awe of your abilities, and are even more enamored when you back it up with good banter and self-promotion on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
American culture seems to emphasize "leadership" a lot. What does it actually mean for students? Good looking and talkative?
yes, this is exactly what I talked about upthread. It's considered acceptable to boast about your child's accomplishments in athletics and in the arts - winning goal in the soccer game, made the varsity basketball team, won an award for a painting or at a dance competition.
It used to be ok to similarly mention that your child made the honor roll or got straight As, but now people say that it makes them sad or upset when people boast about their kids' report cards since their child isn't getting straight As or they post memes like the one I posted about how raising a child who is kind means so much more than raising one who gets good grades. Which is ridiculous because they aren't mutually exclusive in the first place but there are also no memes about how it's more important to raise a child who is kind because it means more than being able to score a soccer goal. It's just grades and academic achievements and intellectual ability that is considered fair game to be dismissive about.
People seem far more comfortable with the idea of being lazy, out of shape, and not athletic versus not being smart or informed. Once you call into the question their intellect, you've crossed the line.
Pointing out that your posts are full of hasty generalization and non sequitur fallacies is not a personal attack.
Saying someone wants to argue just for the sake of arguing, and calling other people's points "nitpicky" is attacking the person.
As to the rest:
tnff, who do you mean by "we" who hate gifted students. Be specific instead of backpedaling.
I see a lot of confirmation bias in these posts.
tnff, you say you live in a small town in TN where you could swing a dead cat and hit a PhD. I've also heard a "lab" mentioned. So I'm guessing you live in/near Oak Ridge. I'm having a hard time accepting that in a town with so many PhDs doing research, that academics isn't respected. Smalll towns tend to have newspapers that emphasize the "folksy" stuff, academics, athletics, churches, etc.
In baseball, there are several ways to make it to the majors. (I have a neighbor/friend whose kids were involved in this.) One way is to be recruited by a team straight out of high school for the minor leagues. Another way is to play college ball, either by being offered a scholarship to a four year college and hoping to be recruited, or starting at a CC and then getting a scholarship to a 4 year college and hoping to be recruited. Hockey likewise has a farm system and the college system, though I don't know if their college system includes CCs.
emm74, you live in a large city (Denver). Your kid goes to a STEM school, yet you feel "gifted" kids don't get as much recognition as the athletic kids. In point of fact, your local paper is the Denver Post, and it doesn't have much "folksy" news about kids period! The local section on Sundays is usually full of obituaries. High school sports are covered in about this order: football, boy's basketball, then a big gap, boy's soccer, especially the Broomfield High School team, then another big gap, then everything else. My daughters did HS gymnastics and it was usually mentioned twice, once at the beginning of the season before there had been any meets, e.g. "XYZ High School hopes to do better this year" or some such drivel, and at state championship time. The TV channels cover the HS sports about the same way.
PriscillaVanilla,I think it's fine for a parent to say their kid is a good student, in gifted program, whatever.
I never talked about my kids' athletic or academic prowess unless someone asked me.
For everyone, as far as this social skills business, again, definitions are everything. A quiet, shy child who behaves him/herself, does his/her work, can cooperate in a group (which doesn't mean always agreeing), etc, has decent social skills. One need not have a big social life with lots of friends to have good social skills.
mitsguy2001, you once mentioned you were married. Obviously, you had the social skills to form a relationship with a partner.
In baseball, there are several ways to make it to the majors. (I have a neighbor/friend whose kids were involved in this.) One way is to be recruited by a team straight out of high school for the minor leagues. Another way is to play college ball, either by being offered a scholarship to a four year college and hoping to be recruited, or starting at a CC and then getting a scholarship to a 4 year college and hoping to be recruited. Hockey likewise has a farm system and the college system, though I don't know if their college system includes CCs.
emm74, you live in a large city (Denver). Your kid goes to a STEM school, yet you feel "gifted" kids don't get as much recognition as the athletic kids. In point of fact, your local paper is the Denver Post, and it doesn't have much "folksy" news about kids period! The local section on Sundays is usually full of obituaries. High school sports are covered in about this order: football, boy's basketball, then a big gap, boy's soccer, especially the Broomfield High School team, then another big gap, then everything else. My daughters did HS gymnastics and it was usually mentioned twice, once at the beginning of the season before there had been any meets, e.g. "XYZ High School hopes to do better this year" or some such drivel, and at state championship time. The TV channels cover the HS sports about the same way.
PriscillaVanilla,I think it's fine for a parent to say their kid is a good student, in gifted program, whatever.
I never talked about my kids' athletic or academic prowess unless someone asked me.
mitsguy2001, you once mentioned you were married. Obviously, you had the social skills to form a relationship with a partner.
Kat,
You described the baseball system accurately. I've seen good HS players go to community colleges in Arizona and Florida to play. The only thing I could add is the baseball draft where a lot of players are drafted and not all sign. They draft both HS and college players, and some HS players elect to go to college. The other point is that few college baseball players are on full scholarships. It is not like D-I college football and basketball where you are either on scholarship or not. Don't ask me why.
Regarding recognition of HS students, the Western PA newspapers, and probably all PA newspapers do a good job of covering both boys and girls sports. The small newspapers outside of the Post-Gazette provide considerable coverage of academic issues such as scholarships. Much of this information is submitted by the parents and not the school district. My hometown newspaper, for example, has always published the pictures of the local HS valedictorian and salutatorian, and/or commencement speakers. Another local paper has a weekly section with articles by writers from each local HS. It is not a matter of recognition, the fact is, many people other than parents, follow HS sports. Many people by local newspapers just to read the sports section.
emm74, you live in a large city (Denver). Your kid goes to a STEM school, yet you feel "gifted" kids don't get as much recognition as the athletic kids. In point of fact, your local paper is the Denver Post, and it doesn't have much "folksy" news about kids period! The local section on Sundays is usually full of obituaries. High school sports are covered in about this order: football, boy's basketball, then a big gap, boy's soccer, especially the Broomfield High School team, then another big gap, then everything else. My daughters did HS gymnastics and it was usually mentioned twice, once at the beginning of the season before there had been any meets, e.g. "XYZ High School hopes to do better this year" or some such drivel, and at state championship time. The TV channels cover the HS sports about the same way.
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None of my comments have ever mentioned the Denver Post or any other newspaper, and what is published in a newspaper or shown on TV has absolutely nothing to do with any of the comments I've made. As a matter of fact, I've never posted anything whatsoever about kids not getting public recognition in that sense.
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