Cimorene

I think the bad effects of letting down gifted children are really underestimated because, sure, we can generally perform on a level with the "normal" kids even if we're not being educated up to par. But what happens is we're let down very early, we're not engaged (I think this might be what you mean by "occupied," but that word made me shudder because it speaks to me of humiliating busywork), we're not taught how to study because, well, we don't *need* to study at first, and then when things get hard, a lot of us hit a wall and literally don't know how to work.

I've heard people talk about that with a little sneer--"Those 'gifted' snots ain't so smart now!"--but really, it's genuinely a problem. It's not that we're lazy or arrogant; studying is a skill that many of us never learned. And since performance is also integral to how so many gifted kids are taught to think of themselves, when they can't perform up to their usual standard, their world drops out from under them. They become not just poorer students, but unhappy, less developed individuals who have no idea of their real potential, who can't live up to that potential; when performance is the only thing anyone valued in you, not being able to perform is world-shattering.

If I'm passionate about this, it's because I've lived through it. Which sounds arrogant...heh. I'm sorry. I don't mean it that way. It's just...looking back, how much more would I have gotten out of college, for instance, if I'd known that it was normal and okay for college to be hard, and that it didn't mean that my brain had suddenly failed me? I'd've had more courage, taken more risks, worked harder. Maybe. :) Same with any creative endeavors where I've shone a little at first, then hit that skill plateau. Now I'm stuck trying to fix all this at 33!