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Age of the whiz kids
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Don't be surprised when a junior school kid outsmarts you. The new-age kid may be an over-achiever, but ultimately the price he pays may not be worth it
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SMALL AND SMART Today's kids are subject to all sorts of pressures from various quarters PHOTO: K. ANANTHAN
Why have children? Put this question to parents and you will get varied answers: for the sheer joy of having them around, to ensure the continuity of the family tree, to produce heirs, for security in old age, and so on. Others say that children enrich their lives. But how? Prod them further and they usually stop short of giving a deeper explanation.
Through their numerous questions, children keep you apprised of the changing times. The parents of Shri Kesav Aditya and R. Nithin will vouch for it. Kesav can easily choose different software applications on a computer, drags and drops various tools in the applications, operates the CD, and shuts down the computer if he's bored. He can reel off the letters of the alphabet and numbers from one to 10, read and tell stories, identify colours, shapes, names of animals, birds, cars and their insignias ... the list is endless. He is only two years and 10 months old.
Ask his peer Nithin how the leaves are green and pat comes the reply: "Photosynthesis." Question him on State capitals and names of leaders, and you get the right answers in a jiffy.
Welcome to the age of whiz kids — kids smarter than their age are here to stay.
These children expose parents to many unexpected situations, putting them in testing circumstances, asking questions and demanding explanations for things normally taken for granted. Catering to the demands of a modern-day child is not easy. Boredom is fast finding a place in the vocabulary of such children. Each time the child howls, "I'm bored!" one more frazzled parent reaches for a pill.
At an age when most toddlers are challenged with speech itself, these kids leave their parents speechless. In the case of Kesav, it was the pre-school learning CDs such as Reader Rabbit, Jumpstart, Disney Preschool and Ready for Maths with Pooh (for kids aged three to six) and Blue's Clues that lured him to computers. "He just observed his father use the computer and followed it," his mother says. Now, Kesav spends more than six hours exploring newer areas, the latest being downloading a software programme.
For Nithin, it was his cousin 13-year-old Ashwathi's preparation for a quiz competition that triggered the interest in learning. "He started asking questions on everything from countries and capitals to oceans and inventions. He learnt spelling, about seasons, planets and he enjoys it," says Anitha Ravikumar, Nithin's mother.
What is that extra something that distinguishes such kids from their not so lucky peers?
"It depends on the environment the child grows. When they show additional intelligence, they get appreciation from parents. This gives them a boost and once they are conditioned to the attention, they want to improve better," says Mony, consultant psychiatrist.
Says M. Gopal, proprietor of a school and organiser of an orchestra run by kids over the age of five: "We have received enquiries from a parent who wanted to put her two-year-old child in our music orchestra. Kids have shown amazing talent in singing and in playing various musical instruments such as guitar, tabla and keyboard. Some have it in their genes while others develop it out of interest."
Are these kids stretched sometimes to a limit, which is beyond their endurance? Is it the intense emotional and social pressures to raise a `perfect' child and be a `perfect' parent driving parents to turn children into superkids?
"No. Parents want the best for the child. We don't put any pressure on them." The challenge is, how creative you get in transmitting knowledge to a child.
And you start experimenting with different ways of teaching, the parents add.
"Parents should play a role in moulding the overall personality of the child in his social life too," Dr. Mony adds.
K. Selvaraj, director of a mental care centre and research institution, agrees. "At this age, the natural tendency of any child is to play. They are not achievement-oriented. In most cases, it's the aspiration of parents that manifests itself through children. When such kids join regular school, the sense of novelty in studies is lost and they tend to get bored. So if the kids are interested in dancing, encourage them, but don't lay the pressure on them to deliver the best."
K. JESHI
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