[Ohiogift] "Tell kids they're smart?" Re: "Danger" of being labeled smart

[Mary Collier]

This feedback shows up in this morning's DaytonDaily News.  I am keyboading it since Our Ideas & Voices page is available only to subscribers in print,  MyDaytonDailyNews.com or e-dition:
 Today's Moderator
Ron Rollins Senior Editor

"We shared a piece from the Atlantic that suggested it might hurt children to tell them they're smart.  This came from reader K.M. Dawson:
 
'Any kid who is reading 3-syllable words while his classmates are stumbling through a first-grade reader realizes his brain works differently and soon learns this is called 'being smart'.  No one has to tell him.  But the reluctance to challenge themselves and make mistakes comes a bit later.  It comes when they give  a wrong answer in class and hear the jeers that 'teacher's pet doesn't know everything'...It comes when they bring home a B and are told by their parents, "You're smart enough to get all As.' 

'We assume that a kid that has a talent for reading or math is some sort of genius who is supposed to be good at everything and resented for it.'

(I made some similar comments, except that I also acknowledged teachers can resent the smart kid.  It has been my experience that the smart kid is not necessarily the teacher's pet.  Maybe the writer is an educator, not a parent.  Also, these days just about everyone gets all As, so why shouldn't a parent say "You are smart enough to get all As"?  Duh?)

Mary Collier
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry MacDuff via Ohiogift <ohiogift at lists.osu.edu>
To: ohiogift <ohiogift at lists.osu.edu>
Sent: Wed, Jul 1, 2015 7:07 pm
Subject: [Ohiogift] "Danger" of being labeled smart


 
  
Everyone:   
   
  
That Dayton Daily News opinion piece referencing the Atlantic Magazine article on being labelled smart is online, here:  
  
   
    
    http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/06/the-s-word/397205/    
    
   
   
Gerald MacDuff    
   
  
 
 

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