To HATE Child Genius?

[ThePlatypusAlwaysTriumphs]

DH and dd are watching and I can't stand it. All those poor kids, crying from the pressure their egomaniac parents have put them under. IT DOESN'T MATTER!! Surely you can be proud of your lovely smart kids without pimping them out to tv. Makes me raging and sad in equal measure.

swing how old is your dd if you don't mind me asking because I always cringe a bit when parents describe their kids as 'emotionally mature' the really arnt ever because they are kids.
Almost 18! Maybe I should say 'emotional mature for her age'. Not me saying it but stated in just about every school reports she's had over the years, and mentioned by most people who meet her. I do agree though (but I could also mention a number of her negative traits!)

These kids are very clever, you can't take that away from them. The exceptional memory is part of that genius package. loads of children have entered and now we are being shown the last stages, where it's no coincidence they have go so far.

My kids have been participating in chess tournaments for a long time and you will get this kind of parents there too, quite a lot if them actually. The frustrated crying happens as well. So I think the show would have been the same if it was chess champion or maths Olympiad.

The main problem here is how c4 has decided to edit it. Zooming in on the parent faces, focusing on the crying etc.

My kids and I like to watch it, pausing to give out our own answers etc. We would have preferred it to be like Top Class, where it's all about the questions, even though , yes there will be one winner in the end.

It is entertainment
I personally don't watch it at all for that purpose. Couldn't care less who wins. I am fascinated by it because I find it amazing how the brain of these kids work. Memorizing a whole deck of cards in one hour at that age is just amazing. I love to see how these kids are able to concentrate to get on with the task, but also how they can analyse and voice their emotions. I think the parents are as a whole very supportive and caring. Yes Rahul's dad communicates as he thinks, but his response when Rahul didn't do well was very supportive and caring.

What we don't see (and I hope because it isn't happening) are parents saying to their kids they are disappointed, or they have let them down, or that all that preparation was a waste of time, that sort of response that I'm sure happens in real life, and that's clear psychological abuse and horrible, but that's not how these parents are portrayed at all. The parents of Fabio are clearly relaxed, funny and show no sign of being pushy and yet he has done amazingly for his age.

alwaysprepare of course the frustrated crying happens in chess tournaments etc. They are kids and it matters to them.

But the chess tournaments aren't shown on TV so the kids' non chess playing friends, classmates etc don't see the tears and the frustrations and the parental disappointment. The children who are disappointed get to process it privately and then put on their public face.

It's like adults have run out of ways to humiliate themselves on reality TV so now they're doing it to their kids.

Hahaha, Fabios mum. She annoyed me no end. I do think she thought she was as charismatic as her kids. At some point I thought she was she was planted in, the way she was the producers wet dream. Lol.(with all the I saw with 2 eyes and 2glasses someone cheating, lol)

She was certainly a TV producers dream and a bit of a caricature of a pushy parent. I wonder if they actually entered for a laugh. I did see her looking genuinely pleased when another child was doing well, whereas Rahul's dad looks daggers if another child is doing as well as Rahul.

Rahul seems genuinely lovely but his father seems a tad over invested in winning. The way he sits with his fingers visibly crossed in mid air when Rahul is on the podium and the angst and tension on his face is so apparent.

The children all seem really nice this year (although I am only on episode 2) unlike previous years where a few were really arrogant I still remember Hugo What has surprised me is the things that the MENSA guy says to the children which seems to be for dramatic affect such as "don't pee your pants" and "I don't know how your nerves can stand it" It comes across this year as an entertainment show rather than a competition.

Relaxed and not pushy is not how I would describe the gorgeous Fabio's mum! Clearly very loving but over invested and sometimes an edge of hysteria, is what I get. But this is it, the mother is not the one doing the amazing feats of memory and factual recall and complicated maths - she should not be given all that air time, if this was a serious competition. After all you don't spend time in the homes of mastermind competitors, where their parents gush about their offsprings genius and intimate knowledge of T-Rex back catalogue, while the actual contestant solves a Rubix cube in the background slurping a brainfood Kale based smoothie! At some point the child has to be given full credit and responsibility for their "genius", I can see that hothousing is beneficial in training a mind, but genes decide genius. The parental preening on Child Genius while understandable, is not an edifying sight, the glimpses of anger and disappointment from the parents is horrible.

The high ratings for the show would fall away if they took out the 'look at the crazy pushy pushy parents ' element, this is my opinion of course, if it was a more dry, less sensationalist more academic programme, they would lose viewers. But gain credibility.

Totally agree nomore and cecily

Fabios mum was frightening

To the people who watch it and think it's a great showcase for children's talents - would you be comfortable knowing that you AND your child are being discussed in living rooms and on Internet forums?

Especially as the format of the show is as bigmouth refers to - sensationalist and ratings based.

Rahul is lovely it must be hard having to live out your dad's dreams-he appears power mad and takes the competition way to seriously.
Yet it is his dad who wanted to celebrate when he got at the end of the semi and Rahul who almost told him off saying that it wasn't yet time to do so.

We all have our perception but I see the kids much more into it then their parents in this serie. I agree that they all very lovely. You see them smiling and laughing and being really fair to each other. It makes me think of the athletic world cup, all these athletes so invested, spending their lives for just that moment and yet all congratulating the winners.

It's funny how I see adults and kids so much better behave and pleasant in these competitive environments than I see in the streets or roads!

swing If you thing Fabio's parents are relaxed and not pushy either you weren't watching the same show as everybody else or you have very poor perception. They were awful.
I'd also echo how stupid it is to assume that everybody who doesn't like the CH parents have children who aren't intelligent or ambitious.

Twenty exceptional children is not a representative sample of the population of under 13s in this country and in an edited programme it is not even fully representative of the sample children's behaviour in the street or at home. I agree the children come across well. I don't think that it tells us anything significant about children generally though.

Let children be children. I find this show quite heartbreaking.

They have been heavily tutored on specific matters. It's so telling that a lot of them can't answer simple questions about Nelson Mandela and the Big Bang Theory. Remembering cards in a sequence is a nice party trick though.

I admit, I haven't watched much of it, so I could have missed bits where the parents didn't come across as dicks, but I stand by the fact that what I did see was uncomfortable viewing.
To those who say it is normal competition, it isnt. It seems to be more about the parents than the children. And I really don't see that it tests intelligence at all. Intelligent children can get competition at school, away from the cameras. They can find challenges elsewhere. Or they might just prefer to use their intelligence to get a career they love and find challenges in that.
I was told I had a genius IQ at an early age. I found "failure" very hard to deal with and still do (I remember being inconsolable when I got a sum wrong aged 5!) I made a mistake at work a few years ago which left me feeling suicidal and suffering from depression. For clever kids who are used to being top of everything this kind of public "failure" could well be hugely damaging.
My dad still brags about how bright I am (he even told DH and dd that I would have won Child Genius of it was on in my day!) It makes all of us cringe. My DM, bless her, was great. She used to tell me all the time that intelligence was just a matter of fact, like having blue eyes or blonde hair, and that it was what you did with it that counted. Very sensible lady who kept me nicely grounded, and who I'm sure would be appalled at this horrible program!

In the spelling tests, rahul pronounces 'h' as aitch, and for that alone he gets a from me

Rahul seems comes across as a very sweet kid and a lot more mature than his father.

swing If you thing Fabio's parents are relaxed and not pushy either you weren't watching the same show as everybody else or you have very poor perception. They were awful.

How about we have different perceptions rather than you having a good one whilst mine is poor!

You feel sorry for these kids, I think they are amazing. How Nerissa took it upon herself to come back on the show is incredibly admirable. I find it incredibly refreshing to see parents who encourage their kids to fight adversity rather than shying from it when we'll seem to hear about in the news is how stressed kids are, how MH issues are continuously on the rise amongst the youngest.

Yes, our perceptions are different as in mine are normal and yours are shit.

Yes, our perceptions are different as in mine are normal and yours are shit.
:) :)

I agree - I am normally shouting at the TV, but I do enjoy watching it... They're so intelligent!

I also hate that the parents put 2 siblings together - that's just bound to cause even more problems.

That's a bit harsh, cowgirls, though I do think swings must have been watching a different programme from me.

Those kind of emotions are played out In competition every day in all types of ways. The only difference with this programme is that more people are seeing it.

My son has been in competitive sport since he was 5. It was always his choice and, at the beginning of each season, he was asked if he wanted to sign up again and it was always his choice.

I'm glad some of you didn't get to watch him though. Frequently having tears of frustration, anger at himself for not doing well, elation when he did, self doubt and lack of confidence "I won't get in the team" "I'm rubbish at this" "I'm not good enough" "he's better than me" are constant feelings in this house even now and he's now 15.

It doesn't matter that last Sunday he was brilliant, the man of the match, adored by everyone - that will be forgotten (by him) in an instant if this Sunday his performance wasn't as good as last week. It's his pressure to deal with, he is competitive, he wants to do it no-one is making him. He can walk away anytime he likes. He would be horrified at the suggestion that he shouldn't play because sometimes it's stressful.

And he is not unusual. Other parents report similar scenarios after each game.

You cannot make assumptions about a child's mental health based on a very edited tv show. Nor should you.