EradicateĀ āSmart Kidā Norms
The goal of this post is to raise awareness to damaging behaviour towards a group otherwise ignored due to their academic prowess and supposedly problem-free lives.
Growing up as the standardĀ āsmart kidā Iāve encountered problems and witnessed them in otherĀ āsmart kidsā too. In this post, Iād just like to highlight some of them and perhaps show the effects of what other people deem as normal behaviour that can actually be harmful towards top students.
Ā -Ā hate being compared toĀ
if you are the top of your class, every test is a problem. people will turn around when they get a result and try to see yours in order to evaluate themselves instead of take the grade theyāve been awarded. for example, instead of accepting you got a B, you see that theĀ āsmart kidā got a C and instantly feel better about yourself, or vice versa if they got more than you. this kind of behaviour is not only damaging to who youāre comparing to (since people often express their negative views on their grades towards you, I commonly get theĀ āof course you would get an Aā orĀ āI canāt believe I got more than you!ā) but also to yourself - of course in school youāre taught to compare yourself, but your biggest competitor is yourself and you should always be aiming to outdo your best attempt rather than what theĀ āswotā gets.
- need to be supported regardless of their grades
a particularly sad experience I personally have is collecting my exam results last year. I went in with all my friends, they got their envelopes, jumped up and down in joy at what they got ā¦ it came to my turn, I saw what I got, I turned around to tell them - and they told me not to say a thing. they didnāt want to know! to an extent, I get this (see previous point about comparative self-worth) but when you achieve something, you wanted to be recognised and appreciated, especially by your friends. telling your smart friend not to share what they got on a paper is purely bad friendship - everyoneās successes, no matter how small or frequent, deserve to be celebrated.
- arenāt always bragging
this is a problem Iām facing even now. I rarely talk about my achievements or grades in fear of being disliked or viewed as competition. if I get an A on a mock, I barely say a thing because I donāt want to come off as lacking modesty or over-confident. how do you say things about how well youāre doing without offending, belitting or annoying other people?
- shouldnāt carry yourĀ group projects
all Iām going to say on this one is that if you let theĀ āsmart kidā do all the work in school, youāre wasting your own time. if you have to be in lesson for fifty minutes anyway, you might as well learn, rather than waste another fifty minutes elsewhere revising for your exam!
some people revise. others donāt. be nice to your localĀ āsmart kidā - donāt assume they revised all day and night for that A, that they put in 100% effort all the time to validate yourself, or get mad when you hear them say they didnāt revise or are screwed for a test. I frequently donāt revise for tests since I have more important exams coming up for but itās not my fault if I still get a decent grade. some people are more suited towards a particular subject and thatās okay, because you are too!
- have just as many worries
smart kids have worries too. they still fear about university applications, tests, job interviews, boyfriends, all the jazz that everyone else does. competency in a subject doesnāt ensure you a place. the worrying fact that exists is that there will always be someone smarter, someone more experienced, someone generally better than you, regardless of whether you are smart or not, therefore you shouldnāt get frustrated at people who are worried when you think they shouldnāt be.
- arenāt always well-behaved
they donāt all wear glasses. they donāt not have social lives. they donāt all care about school. just like everyone else, intelligence means squat if youāre not having fun. whilst you should always respect the school system, donāt assume that being smart means not making jokes or goofing off, or that doing those things will impact your intellectual performance in any way.
yes, I know I knew the answer yesterday. yes, I know I can do better than that. yes, smart kids have bad days! if an overachiever gets a lower mark than usual, be nice. it may make you feel good to have done better than theĀ ānerdā but imagine how they feel about it if they are academically-conscious. if theyāre nice to you, be nice to them. thatās all there is to it.
of courseĀ āsmart kidsā want to help you improve, especially if they can show off their knowledge whilst doing so. itās a compliment to be asked for help because it shows youāre respected and intellect is acknowledged, however, copying someoneās work or getting them to do the work for you is wrong. itās unfair to ask theĀ āsmart kidā for last nightās homework if you didnāt do it, or coast off their work because they sit a desk too close to you. keep your integrity when doing work.
- arenāt only good at academic subjects
2018 should be the year we reject the concept that only STEM subjects count, that anyone who majors in English or Art or Drama isnāt as intelligent as someone who does physics. recognise a degree for a degree, talent for talent, ability for ability. anybody can be aĀ āsmart kidā, it doesnāt mean you have to score perfect As or have some quantifiable measure. redefine smart to mean knowledgeable and suddenly everyone you know, even you, is a smart kid.
- can only have an academic job
leading on from this, donāt think that someoneās ability defines their future career. someone could be a killer biologist but want to go into dancing. let them! itās their choice and nobody should be defining it as wasted potential.
- donāt feel intellectually superior
chances are, they donāt care about intelligence. itās nice to have but you know whatās nicer? talking about Netflix, or football, or other interests with their friends weāre not numbers and grades, weāre people with passions, and intellect is a small part of a huge thing called personality that everyone has. especially at school age, an A* student isnāt thinking they canāt be friends with a D student. theyāre thinking about what theyāre having for dinner tonight, and when they can next hang out with their best friend.
- should never be belitted by teacher
finally, this is a general point that has affected a million students regardless of ability. teachers deserve respect but they can also lose it if they begin to treat the class unlike equals. smart kids may stereotypically be seen as teacherās pets but in reality, it is often the other way round. I canāt count the times a teacher has deliberately skipped me when searching for an answer, even if Iām the only one with a hand up, or the amount of times Iāve been asked not to contribute, on both hands. everyone is entitled to an education so fair enough if a teacher wants to push less talkative students, but if it gets to the point where a smart kid has been stopped from talking, put on the spot with a particularly mean question or been downright bullied by the person who is supposed to be fair, speak up. the effects of being dampened can be long-lasting and hurtful, resulting in smart kids who no longer participate or enjoy school.
Again, this post wasnāt meant to offend anyone, or put myself up on a pedestal as aĀ āsmart kidā. Of course, there are positives to doing well at school, like good job opportunities and academic success, but I see lots of awareness raised for students who donāt do so good and feel like there should be balanced representation out here. The general moral from all of this is that everyone in education should be treated with respect and allowed to develop surrounded by support from peers and teachers regardless of their ability. This includes underachievers, overachievers, the coasters, the tryhards - any name you have for a type of student - 2018 is the year weāre eradicating education-based shaming.
