Child Genius

Everyone knows it was 1066 Grumpa, just goes to prove Channel 4 is not all it's cracked up to be.

I can't watch this. I feel sorry for the children.

Me too - I do not watch it. Fancy putting your own children through such a thing?

Having worked with a charity set up to support gifted children many years ago, the group I worked with refused to have anything to do with the media, we did not even ask whether the children attending had had an IQ test or what the result was. We offered children in our group, who were all in normal schools and had been identified by teachers, psychologists, doctors or parents, but rarely teachers, as exceptionally bright, activities to stretch them intellectually. I can remember a group of three and under playing board games like ludo and snakes and ladders, able to read dice quickly,, count squares and pass the dice round. Older children learnt latin or studied mathematical conundrums with a friendly maths lecturer.

Our main aim was to help these children to fit in with ordinary society and not turn them into performing monkeys. The few whose outcomes I know are academics, or computing whizz kids, but others have consciously chosen to leave the rat race and follow their own particular interests without feeling any need to 'prove' themselves in any way. All are well grounded and integrated in to general society.

I caught about five minutes of this whole HymnsElf was fiddling around trying to find something watchable, so my impression is based on that five minute stretch. It seemed that these poor children were taking part in a dirt of Junior Mastermind where all that was required was information retrieval. Rather like 'naming of parts' I thought. True geniouses are creative and able to ake those huge imaginative leaps which takes them to places that others can't reach. Drilling and skilling in barking out answers and being paraded on the media can do these poor children no good at all.

Type.. Not dirt!

Genius. Or dear, iPad fingers

The interesting thing is watching the different parenting styles, Some were very organised and regimented while others were much more laid back with an "if it happens it happens" attitude. I have to admit that the regimented children did better in the maths and spelling tests. The scary parents were a couple of psychologists who were trying to manufacture a genius. Not only did the poor girl have a very "structured" learning regime, but she was fed a special (i.e. Revolting!) and had massages and dreadful American pep talks. I imagine the whole nation cheered when she was knocked out early on - cue more deeply meaningful talks from Mother when a Big Mac would probably been more helpful.

My favourite was the ginger haired girl who had entered herself for the competition - much to her mother's horror. She suffered terribly from nerves but wouldn't be talked into leaving and finished in the top 6. She is a voracious reader and wants to be a writer, I expect she will be very successful.

I especially liked the girl who won, Sharon. She'd done all the work herself and her parents were supportive rather than pushy. I felt she deserved to win and seemed like a really lovely girl.

I was horrified by some of the parents' attitudes. The expression on the face of the mother of the second-placed child when he got a question wrong was quite chilling.

I did worry about him Ana his father seems to be very controlling and he is only 7 after all. Although the boy did seem quite philosophical about losing.