Child Genius anyone??

[Allthingspretty]

should be interesting

Yes, that's true about Connor's friends. His mum must have thought that through though. Poor kid. :(

Were Be's geeky friends in the audience with his mum?

May I just say:

Cheat! Cheat! Cheatycheatycheatcheat! Cheaty grinning lady. You do not write your kids speech. That's cheating. That lovely girl (I liked her mum too) deserved to go through. The boy is increadibly bright but this was cheating.

Glad Shrinidhi won. She is fab. I hope she never looses her eccentricity (maybe give licking books a break though). Seemed like a lovely family - genuine. Please god, keep her safe from the bullies and other assorted bastards out in the big bad world who crush unique spirits like her! Let no-one make her feel awkward or freakish for being so bloody brilliant.

Bloody cheaty woman. So unfair! Sooo unfair. Not as unfair as card memorising test annoying boy.

Lara was so graceful when he lost.
Cheating was way out of order!! I cannot believe Connor's mum got away with it.

That's true Jinsei. If I was a cheater I'd have the sense to hide it. However, if it was my child I'd rather they lost than won but have the nagging doubt that they couldn't have won if they hadn't had help.

I saw one in the audience :)

They should have been told that they were having a debate, but not the subject. Then on the day given two hours in isolation with access to the Internet to research.

However, if it was my child I'd rather they lost than won but have the nagging doubt that they couldn't have won if they hadn't had help.

Yes, absolutely. It's a pretty hollow victory otherwise.

Though I'd never enter my dc into a stupid contest like this

So pleased Shrinidhi won love her,and I think her parents are doing a fab job of towing the line between pushing to hard and not bothering at all.

Connors mum is a Cheating Cheaty Cheat!!! I cannot believe she got away with writing his speech.
Lara was robbed,she should have been in the final,not Connor.

As for Hugo,I do understand his parents giving up trying to teach him how to behave,DD is very similar and it is exhausting, it wears you down when it simply never goes in.
I haven't given up drilling DD yet and i hope we never will...but she is only 4...and I can see how you could...

Great that the loveliest girl won!!

So impressed by Oscar's attitude throughout this. He will go far with an attitude like that.

So impressed by Oscar's attitude throughout this. He will go far with an attitude like that.

Yes, such a contrast between Oscar's reaction to going out and that of Hugo and his dad. He seems like a good kid.

I loved Ben's friends at the end too, and what he said about his opponents. He seemed very grounded, and I'm willing to bet that he is a whole lot happier than poor Connor.

As for Shrinidhi, I think she was in a class of her own. Live that she'd written a biography of her "idol" who turned out to be the dictionary lady on countdown!

Shrinidhi was just so endearing, she deserved to win. She was odd and fabulous at the same time. I too hope the school bullies don't make her feel bad about her eccentricities.

Given that they all looked like they went to priovate schools I was a bit surprised they weren't better at the debating side by themselves. I sort of had some sympathy for Connor's mum as she summed up the competition by saying she was playing to his strengths & getting him to memorise it! It wasn't a competition for indivuiduality or creatvitiy. I do thi9nk she should have got him to write it first & then helped him to make it sound better (* I am sure other paretns did that!|)

Having watched Oscar's parents I could see where he got his politeness from but he did look so serious still!

Don't you think all the mums had input into the debate speeches, not just Connor's mum? She was more blatant. The others parents may have helped off-camera, and we did see Ben practising his speech, buying a smart suit, being given speech tips ( don't look at card etc).

However, Connor's mum was obviously pushy, and Connor looked smug at times. Loved Ben's mates.

I've sat on my hands too long on this. The criticism of children on this thread is appalling. The judgements are horrific, what on earth do you know about these people? You just see the image of people the programme makers want you to see.

The nastier side of MN.

Shrinidhi's parents moved to England to give her more opportunities, can't understand why that is not seen as pushy. I have no doubt some careful editing went on and all the parents were putting a lot of effort into preparing their children, including helping with their speeches.

Shrinidhi deserved to win as she consistently performed well but Connor did well throughout too. Genius isn't necessarily about making the best speech.

Shrinidhi's parents moved to England to give her more opportunities, can't understand why that is not seen as pushy

I don't think it's necessarily pushy - interested and proactive, yes, but not pushy. She said that they'd have stayed in India if her talent had been in the sciences, but they came to the UK because of her talent for the English language.

From what I know of the relative value placed on science vs arts in India, I should imagine that pushier parents would have urged Shrinidhi down the maths/science route, whereas this family seem to have responded to her natural strengths and interests.

So pleased Shrinidhi won.

For me the most telling comment was the one Shrinidi's mother made at the end when they asked her about parenting a gifted child - she said something like 'don't push too hard, but encourage them in the things they're interested in'. I know it's edited and maybe other parents said that sort of thing and it was cut, but I still think it's the most sensible and balanced comment I heard.

Taffeta - the criticism here has mostly been towards the parents and parenting of these children. Some of the parents have been seemingly encouraging 'bad' or disruptive behaviour in their children, which can only make life more difficult for them when they grow up. Some people have posted comments directed at children but these have mostly been sat upon by other posters.

An attitude of 'you are all so stupid/common' won't really help you win friends and influence people. This would be the same if the programme was about MENSA kids or kids competing in a tiddlywinks championship.

I think Shrinidhi's parents made a tough decision. Pushed? Not really. You can push and push and push a child but could they write novels, be a scrabble champ, write a biography? She is a very rare person - I'd say more 'true genius' than very intelligent. I loved the way her eyes darted as she worked out the answers - her brain must go a million miles a second. I think there will be scientists dying to get their hands on her brain to see how it works.

She has that eccentric spark and personality that will get her far. Think Einstein! She came across as a nice person too. So did her mum. Her brother is very cute too - I wonder if her will follow in her footsteps?

An attitude of 'you are all so stupid/common' won't really help you win friends and influence people. Did I miss something. I didn't infer this from taffeta's post. She is right, we do see what the programme makers wanted us to see. But I still think Shrinidhi was the worthy winner, even if it was edited to make us think that.

These were words from one of the child's mouth. The parents seemed not to correct him or explain why this isn't a good way to behave. Children say what they think/what they hear from those around.

so glad Shrinidhi won. DH was jumping up and down as if it was a live football match.

I like the fact the she seems to be allowed to watch tv regularly although being scrabble champion, she obviously does engages in co-currular activities. I also like the fact that the winner is not the stereotypical maths/science/computer genius as that's those are the categories that are most recognised and catered for in many societies.

Although it's edited, I vaguely remember Rohan's mum insisting she wouldn't write the speech for him and asking him to get on with it (I hope he gets a place at Harrow). I suspect Shrinidhi's parents would struggle to write a better one than she herself would and Oscar's family admitted to knowing little about writing speeches and engaging debate (unless they paid someone and it wasn't shown). I doubt that the other parents wrote their kids speeches like Connor's mum did. She cheated and it's rather sad that she needs so much validation through her son.

Thank you. They are great lads. My lad is one of team geek. Been waiting to see them on tv

Thank you. They are great lads. My lad is one of team geek. Been waiting to see them on tv

Ah moggy, I thought Team Geek were fantastic - really nice, modest, well-grounded kids. You should be very proud! :)

Ben came across as a nice kid too - intelligent but without the smugness! It was lovely to see that he had some good mates around him!

DH pointed out that, unless it was edited strangely, the quick fire round wasn't a very fair way of deciding the winner - if two kids had got all thir consecutive answers correct, then the one who went first would obviously win because they were first to 10. Seems an obvious oversight for a Mensa quiz!