Child genius -which bright spark decided to put it on on a Tuesday???

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Anyone watching?

"Elaine's only hope of staying in the competition now rests on her remaining son, Kale."

Perfectly sums up that it's largely the parents looking for a place in the competition over the children.

So sad to see Ethan sobbing, "I've failed you Mummy."

Two map rounds?! That's just crap. I preferred the card memorising round from last year.

Ethan and Kale seem like really nice kids, and I love their outfits.

girliefriend, Holly's mum is on this thread. She does seem a lovely girl and it's quite common for girls that age to have low self esteem. To be honest, anyone getting one mark on the maths tests is a genius to me!

Why do I find this programme nauseating and compelling? There is so much wrong with it - the horrible and humiliating name cards, pushy parents, cocky children etc.

A lot,of the kids are very bright, but well trained. I think the only prodigy is Thomas, but Holly is naturally clever as well ( hello Holly's mum - not just saying that because you're a mums-netter).

Thomas came across cocky tonight. Maybe he was playing up to the camera. His parents seem to support his cleverness, rather than are pushy (although when they said he plays four musical instruments last week, i immediately thought how expensive that was).

I quite like how the quiz master always says 'well done' to the contestants.

Only just caught up with tonight's episode

I really identified with Holly's mum saying that her talents weren't utilised and she doesn't want Holly's talent to go to waste -that's the issue i'm having with my daughter at the moment

I've just finished watching also.

What has happened for a mum to say it was really unfair? I want to watch next week's episode now!

Why the hell have the two brothers been let through? Set up to fail I think.

The mother and the boys grammar speak volumes.

Agree Holly looks very distressed at times, but her mom made the point that Holly had been begging to go on this programme for several years and she had finally relented.

Hasn't it only been on for one series before this?

So as well as being a genius, young Holly must be a FUCKING PSYCHIC!

I think this is the third series.

banjo I see that you've withdrawn your messages so you're maybe not following this any more, but I just wanted to say that Holly seems like a fantastic girl and IMO you've done the right thing by supporting her to do what she wants. I really identified with her, I felt a lot like that at her age - high achiever but shy, but took to heart comments that I needed to be better at socialising/speaking up in class/public speaking etc. so I'd push myself to do things I wasn't comfortable with e.g. joining debate club, entering public speaking events. Hugely contributed to my anxiety and, with hindsight, just didn't help me at all. But there's no way I would've wanted my parents to "interfere" and stop me and I have them to thank that I am now independent, can make my own decisions etc. eventually I realised I am an introvert, that lots of people are and that IT IS OK!! Group work tasks, group discussions, being with lots of other people etc just don't suit introverts. I really wish I'd known that at school and that I was going to turn out just fine.

I really hope Holly is getting some proper help, I don't think that level of self doubt is within "normal" girl growing up issues. She comes across as very unhappy, it was quite upsetting to watch her. Obviously the show is edited etc, but she seems like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders.

The Chinese boy (David?) is so similar to the chinese boy in the last series. Both their father's were extremely setting their sights on the "genius", whilst both boys seem to be taking it in their stride :-)

I loved when Ethan said "It's not your fault, it's Mummy's for putting us in".

Looking forward to next week to see what wasn't fair.

I loved seeing Holly's smile after she got such a high score on the maths round. That clearly meant a lot to her. And seeing her mum's look of relief was almost as good!

^ Yes I agree. The Mum's relief made me feel like she is hoping that this will help her daughter, however that is the last place I would imagine a child with emotional/self esteem issues should be.

Other than Holly they only seem to be focusing on boys this year. It was a bit of a shock to see the table of girls chatting as they'd been invisible until then.

^It may be that it just happened that those who gave consent for "background" filming happened to be mostly boys. I was reading something about one of last years contestants and it seems that the family filming was quite invasive; many hours over months rather than just a weekend.

anon33 i don't think holly's self doubt is out of the ordinary. being infront of a camera is really unnerving and it amazes me how the kids breeze through that aspect of it. i think she was exceptionally brave putting herself forward and i hope that knowing she had the courage to do that gives her confidence in the future.
i often watch this programme with a wtf expression (it pains me watching hothoused kids) but if holly's mum is still reading you have a lovely little girl and you should be very proud

I found some parts of the last series.offensive. Snobby parents pushing their children beyond commonsense.

I can't imagine which bit of any of it anyone could find not offensive!

I'm drawn to it like people slowing down to look at car crashes.........I hate myself for watching it.

Why is it different to other competitions? Would a junior chess competition be similarly offensive?

to Hollys mum, you do all seem lovely and Holly is obviously really clever but I would still be worried about her self esteem. Agree it doesn't seem within the 'normal' range (whatever that is!) Fwiw you don't seem pushy at all, I think the pushy parents are ones like Ethan and Kales mum who are putting their own agendas ahead of what may be best for their children (imo )

I imagine having a super clever child brings with it some unique issues and I am glad to have a dd who (like her mother) is very middle of the road intelligence wise!!

For me it differs from a chess comp because of the nature of the title. A "genius". It is a very subjective concept. Some one (from an IQ perspective) can be a "genious" but they are not all round clever, if that makes sense? I think they said that Holly has the highest IQ but her performance has not been that great.

These children are under immense pressure to win the "title" and sadly often it is their parents who are the driving force. They is way too much talk of "failure" and "letting people down".

A chess comp may well have the same type of parents, but at least a title in a chess comp means something quantifiabke; whereas child genius does not.

I was delighted that the last two winners (Sharon and Shrinidi) seemed really grounded and felt the key to success was hard work. This year there are too many arrogant, over confident "I'm so clever i don't need to do anything" types. I would hate to see them winning.

let's face it, the only genius (whatever that might mean) of the children they've focussed on so far is Thomas. The others range from very clever (of which there were many similar types at school with me) to super bright. Quite notably with Thomas, he is completely self motivated; there is no pushy parent behind the scenes. If anything, his mum always seems completely stumped by his ability.
All that said, over my dead body would i allow any of my dcs to participate in a programme like this as my dcs are distinctly average it's not an issue that will ever arise chez violet

Thomas is in Yr 7 at my local high school but works a few years above in certain (maybe all) subjects. In fact, DS (Yr 10) has just told me that Thomas sits next to him in Physics.