Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-09-20
THE UNUSUAL CHILD
By H. Addington Bruce

TN HERE still are parents, I find, who
are as much troubled in mind as de-
II lighted if they happen to be blessed
with an unusually bright child. They seem
to take it for granted that the brightness be-
tokens almost inevitably a later nervous or
mental breakdown.
Should we not endeavor to check our
child's precocity?" they ask. For is fGnot
true that bright children are in special dan
ger of overtaxing their minds and going to
pieces?"
AS matter Of fact it is the child that is
subnormal rather than supernormal in intel
ligence that is most likely to suffer mental
ly or nervously. For the effort to study-an
effort that must soon or late be made by
every child-taXes the poor little subnormal
as it never would the supernormal child.
In this respect, indeed, the latter is also
more favorably situated than the child of
average intelligence. This because, as a rule,
the mental training of the ordinary child
does not begin soon enough to fit it for US
ing it's mind readily and efficiently when it
goes to school.
During the pre-school period it is permit
ted, through sheer neglect on the part of
it's parents to fall into faulty habits of
thinking and to develop interests that con-
flct with the interests of the schoolroOm.
Consequently it finds school studies irksOme
and may-Often it does-break down under
them.
But there are certain other factors max
ing for nervousness against which the par
ents of Intellectually gifted children undoubt-
eddy need to be on guard.
They need to make sure that their chill
dren get plenty of outdoor play, nervous
ness-preventing influence which children I'M
commonly fond Of books may be inclined to
ignore. Ana the parents Of such children
should make it point to encourage them to
play, not alone, but with other children.
This will -tend-as 1 have elsewhere point
|
cal adjustments easy for the children; also
, to prevent them from becoming too self
conferred, a real danger in the case of chill
dren of intellectual superiority. AS further
protection against the same mischievous
trait the parents, while encouraging their
bright children to use their minds vigorously
should never parade their accomplishments
before admiring relatives and friends.
The temptation to do this is, of course,
strong. Parents naturally wish to impress
other people with the brightness of their
offspring. And if the offspring are. unusual
ly bright the parading may soon become
habitual.
Then the child is sure to grow conceited
Still worse it learns to expect flattery and
adulation from everybody A little later-in
the schoolroom and the schoolyard-it dis
covers that not everybody will flatter it, and
that it must often accommodate itself to the
wishes of others.
This-because of the extreme self-center-
edness fostered by it's parents praise and
pampering-it may be unable to do. Mental
conflict ensues, and, all too likely, partial or
total collapse.
1t is not the brightness that has caused
the wreckage, but the parents failure to sup
plement the brightness with adequate moral
training. Reared Alright, the bright child
would have developed into an exceptionally
brilliant and socially valuable man woman.
AS is demonstrated by the life histories of
many gi1ed children who have been reared
Alright.
Copyright, 1921, by The Associated News
pers.)