These are commonly reported experiences among people who were labeled as ‘gifted kids,’ along with ‘gifted kid burnout,’ which results from gifted students being unable to keep up with the high expectations put on them as children. I also struggled with self-worth issues, having been told for years that my academic ability was what made me special. As you can imagine, this made it kind of hard to make friends. There is a very simple problem with taking a select group of kids and telling them that they are better than all the others: They believe it.Īs a child, I earnestly believed that I was smarter than most of my classmates, and therefore, better than them. Gifted education programs can be a great educational opportunity, but they can also have a significant negative psychological impact on children.
And I think it should have never happened. It was a foundational part of my early childhood education. The curriculum was designed to encourage critical thinking, build problem solving skills, and make learning fun. Once a week, I got to spend the entire school day in a special class with less than a dozen other kids, learning from a passionate and highly-qualified teacher.
In first grade, I was admitted into my school’s ‘Gifted and Talented’ program.
