[Ohiogift] "Danger" of being labeled smart

[Jerry MacDuff]

Everyone:

Today's issue of the Dayton Daily News has a short opinion piece about the
wisdom and alleged dangers of labeling children -- "gifted," to most people
-- as "smart." Seems as if the writer of the article needs feedback from
members of the gifted community. (*See the article pasted below*.)

Gerald MacDuff
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
*Not smart to be smart?*
*By Ron Rollins - Dayton Daily News editor*

I’m intrigued by how people develop over the course of their lives, and by
those stories you hear about the kid who “peaks” in high school, or the
below-average student who becomes a millionaire.

So a story in The Atlantic caught my eye. It argues that it can hurt
children to label them as smart too early on.

“At whatever age smart people develop the idea that they are smart, they
also tend to develop vulnerability around relinquishing that label. So the
difference between telling a kid ‘You did a great job’ and ‘You are smart’
isn’t subtle. That is, at least, according to one growing movement in
education and parenting that advocates for retirement of ‘the S word.’ The
idea is that when we praise kids for being smart, those kids think: Oh
good, I’m smart. And then later, when those kids mess up, which they will,
they think: Oh no, I’m not smart after all. … That’s a risk to avoid, they
learn.”

Interesting. Your take? Email: rrollins at coxohio.com
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