If I'm So Smart, Why Aren't the Answers Easy?

Robert A. Schultz, James Delisle

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000493566
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Based on surveys with more than 5, 000 gifted young adults, If I'm So Smart, Why Aren't the Answers Easy? sheds light on the day-to-day experiences of those growing up gifted. In their own enlightening words, teens share their experiences with giftedness, including friendships and fitting in with peers, school struggles and successes, and worries about the future. By allowing teens to share their real-life stories, the book gives readers a self-study guide to the successes and pitfalls of being gifted in a world not always open to their unique and diverse needs. Teens will be able to reflect on their own experiences through the engaging journal prompts included in the book, and their parents and teachers will enjoy hearing directly from other students about the topics gifted teens face daily. Grades 6-10

Chapter 1
WHAT IS GIFTEDNESS?

DOI: 10.4324/9781003235705-2

THE definition of giftedness is one of the most hotly debated topics by anyone having any interest in ability. In fact, within the field of gifted education, experts have yet to agree upon a common set of gifted behaviors and tendencies—let alone clearly state a distinction between being gifted and/or talented.

Is giftedness real? What does the term mean?

We believe giftedness is a state of being, and it is real. We also know that being labeled affects your life (more than just at school!). Is it something you will outgrow? Can you be cured?

We needed help in setting the record straight. So we asked gifted individuals around the world to help us answer these questions. And here's a sampling of what was said.

What do you think being gifted means? What is your reaction to the term “gifted”?

Being gifted means an ability to learn things faster. My reaction to the term is "I'm not gifted." I just work hard. I think calling exceptionally smart people "gifted" takes credit away from their hard work and effort and says, "they were just born that way,"

—Girl, 13, Oklahoma

Gifted is like the plague. You get identified and everyone around you changes the way you are treated. Isn't there another way to say I'm bright and quick instead of the invisible tattoo?

—Boy, 13, West Virginia

Giftedness is having exceptional abilities and being motivated enough to use those abilities to create wonderful things.

—Girl, 13, Iowa

Being gifted is: Grandiose, Gorgeous, Gigantic, Galactic. Of course I don't share this lexicological alliteration often—I need to fit in!

—Boy, 14, Rhode Island

My reaction toward the term "gifted"? I basically think of nerds, which means I think I am a nerd, but also, at the same time, I don't feel like one.

—Girl, 14, Texas

Personally, I don't think that being picked out as gifted is anything special. I think being gifted is just a fable that teachers use to give us harder work.

—Boy, 14, Nebraska

Being gifted is a state of mind, it is liking adult (not rude, but more mature) humor, debating issues, being interested in the world, and wanting to make a difference. It's wanting to be perfect.

—Girl, 14, England

What gifted means to me is that my brain works so much faster than most people around me that it is hard to maintain interest in conversations. (Why is it so hard to state this fact without sounding like I'm bragging or lying?)

—Boy, 14, North Carolina

Being gifted means getting to miss class and do fun stuff in elementary school and being bored in class in later years. It means nothing other than adults need a euphemism for "smart" because they can't say I'm "smart" and put me in the "smart classes" that my parents were in in the 1960s and 1970s.

—Girl, 15, Wisconsin

Being gifted means being recognized for my inquisitiveness and drive to know things. It means I live life to the fullest, and this causes envy in others.

—Girl, 15, South Dakota

My reaction to the word gifted is always the same: "Are you talking to me?"

—Boy, 16, Ohio

YOUR TURN

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Many gifted people have a negative view about the term "gifted." Some think it is elitist, others find it vague, and a few see it as just (as one student responded) "a fable that teachers use to give us harder work." How do you see it? If you don't like the term, what do you suggest as a replacement? If you do like the term gifted, tell us why.

Gifted can't really be defined, in my opinion. It means something slightly different to everyone, with gifted people being even more diverse in their definitions than anyone else.

—Boy, 16, Iowa

Gifted means you can forget to study and still do well on "the big test."

—Girl, 16, Texas

Being gifted is a joy when I'm around people who understand that labels are only cheap ways to compare people. It is horrible when the comparisons pit divergent groups against one another.

—Boy, 16, Colorado

It means I'm smart. It also means I wear my heart on my sleeve. Others see the former, but totally miss the latter. I don't just "get over it." It's who I am.

—Girl, 16, Nebraska

I do not like the term "gifted." I believe it puts young people on a platform that is not always earned.

—Boy, 17, Tennessee

It is difficult to define giftedness because there are so many degrees of difference.

—Girl, 1 7, Nevada

Being gifted, I can form connections in ways that your average student can't. When I learn something in history class that relates to something in English class, I have a much better chance of putting two and two together.

—Boy, 18, Virginia

I always hated the term "gifted." I was always more or less set apart from the other kids in school, and being labeled gifted just made it worse. It gave them one more thing to tease me about.

—Girl, 19, North Carolina

What would "gifted" be? Faster, quicker, deeper? Motivated, self-challenged, driven? This sounds like a professional athlete—and we know they can't be gifted. After all—people look up to them, but ridicule or ignore us.

—Girl, 19, Arizona

How did you find out that you are gifted?

My parents stumbled across a friend of a friend who knows a gifted kid when he saw one. We met. We talked. He said I was definitely a candidate. Next thing you know, I take a couple tests and here I am, a newly gifted kid. Funny, I don't feel any different!

—Boy, 12, Vermont

I always knew. I was always different from the other kids.

—Girl, 13, New Jersey

What kind of question is this? It's not like I'm a mutation or something, It's not like "one day I looked at a test, and it was really easy!" Gifted is just something you are.

—Boy, 13, Massachusetts

I never "found out." People just told me I was smart. They bussed me far away to be with other "smart kids." They kept telling us we were gifted, different, set apart. So I learned to be that way.

—Girl, 14, Minnesota

I took a Midwest Talent Search Test on a whim since a friend needed the comfort of company, I guess you could say I earned my identification in the service of another.

—Boy, 14, Illinois

Research. I simply saw what I was doing, what others were doing, did a bit of digging around, generated a lot of questions, and came to the conclusion that I probably qualified as gifted. I mean they were reading Clifford; I was reading Hamlet.

—Girl, 14, Australia

When I met other family members, their first comment would be, "So, this is the genius?"

—Boy, 15, Utah

In school, I had a system; pay attention on Monday, then daydream and doodle until Friday, when I would pass whatever tests they gave me, because it was reviewed the whole week. I hated it. So my mother had me tested, they figured I was gifted, and I went to a different school.

—Girl, 15, Connecticut

I went to a summer camp for gifted kids (even though I was not) to learn about forensics. It was great fun, and I fit right in, In the fall, I was invited into our school's GT program. I guess some of the giftedness must have rubbed off on me.

—Boy, 15, Ohio

YOUR TURN

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Some say it was a test. Others seemed to know they were different from a young age. Finding out you are gifted can be a relief or cause stress in your life. We'd like you to get in the mix with your thoughts. Develop a three-step plan you would use to identify the gifted. Include answers you would give to kids (and parents) who were just identified if they asked, "So ...