___WEDNESDAY___CH 4___UPDATE___"CHILD GENIUS"___UPDATE___CH 4___

[RTKangaMummy]

WEDNESDAY

CHANNEL 4

AN UPDATE ON THE CHILDREN FROM LAST YEAR

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Documentary
Child Genius Wednesday 16 April
9:00pm - 10:00pm
Channel 4
1/2
The subtitle of this series about megabrained children is "young and gifted", but by the end you half-wonder if it should be "young and cursed". We're catching up with kids we met in the last series - chess champ Peter (11), who wears a "genius in training" T-shirt, Adam (eight), who dissects rats in the kitchen, and Mikhail (five), who as Britain's youngest Mensa member has appeared on Oprah and Countdown. We also meet Georgia, who toppled Mikhail as Britain's youngest Mensa member. At two, she was measured with an IQ of 152 - impressive given that, being a toddler, she fell asleep halfway through the test. Her mother notes that "a lot of the pictures we take of Georgia have this white light around her . . ." That's the thing: inevitably, parents become caught up in making their gifted children into mini-celebrities, especially when TV crews get involved. It makes for fascinating TV; whether it's great for the pressure-cooker kids is another matter.

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I liked Michael's mother too.

I tried not to but I do I think she is a genuine bonafide academic, you couldn't make her into anything else but despite that I thought she had humour and integrety(sp). I think they are quite well rounded on the whole.

Found Dante and his family very hard to work out.

and Aimee is under pressure.

Aimee's pressure, mostly from herself, her parents gave glimpses of pushiness at the end though. Dante's parents don't understand him or what makes him tick. I get the impression they don't sit and talk to him about things going around in his head. This is always bad IMO. Michael's got many years of academia and teaching ahead as I don't think he'll have the skills to do anything else.

I wonder if the nutty family declined to take part this time because they realised their children were only 'gifted' as opposed to the genius level of this three.

I think some things have come out about the parents both having other families?? I recon they had alot of flack over how they came across, they were going on about how much people were envious of them and gossiping. That's never a wise thing to say on national tv when you live in a small community.

I think Dante's parents have always let him do as he pleased and now they are paying the price. I remember an earlier show where they were talking to his mum and Dante was walking all over the kitchen work surfaces. It just struck me as odd.

Felt sorry for Hermione, I think she was portrayed as left out. Michael will benefit from being with others children and well done to his parents for encouraging him.

Dante;s parents were dissapointed that there wasn't an explanation to his bad temper.... i will tell them

Your son is a brat and you are too soft on him

Didnt anyone see the the Alan Partridge sketch where he said to a child prodigy's parents ' so when did you realise that you'd spawned a monster'? Thats all I could think about when I watched it ! The parents are all scared of their children, its pathetic ! Why didnt Dantes father tell him to be quiet when the lady was trying to tell him the results of the brain scan ? He just wouldnt shut up ! Oh and Michael and Dante in Paris, what a couple of spanners ! I cant help thinking that if it wasnt for the way they speak, they wouldnt be labelled as gifted, they would be labelled as delinquents. Taking a replica gun into school, Im sorry, but if that had been a child from a particularly rough area there would be an outcry. Why let your child buy a replica gun ? The parents all needed a kick up their backsides.

hought the mad family with the 11+ parties pulled out cos the next child maybe DIDN'T pass the 11+

Or they ahd done badly at school

I agree about the parents should have told Dante to be quiet and stop interupting the Dr

I thought

the grafton clarkes are infamous around here. Here being Lincs.
word is family pulled out due to IQ tests being asked of them but they did not want their kids subjected to it.
you cannot coach IQ per se... You can coach 11+
word is that the older two are very bonafide smart cookies though.
im glad it promises to follow through to adulthood. I was trying to explain to ds1 why we've fought to keep him in the state system, and not pushed him towards interests. The IQ being high means sod all if you produce a superbly academically qualified young adult who cannot fit into society.
Then I wonder was I wrong? Should I have had him off the harry potter and onto Chaucer aged 6?
skiing in France at the expense of important historical and literary knowledge.
hmm

ooh there is a thread going about this good!

Did anyone else think Aimee looked like she didn't get any actual joy from her achievements? Such a cold smile...

I liked Michael and his parents actually - but poor Hemione pressured into writing her 1st novel at 6

Dante - highly irritating

i loved their nerdy like conversations in Paris, I wonder what kind of girls (or boys) they will go for in a few years?

Aimee was ridiculously rude but her folks seemed bewildered by her intelligence so they were really soft. I agree - they should have told her off like any other teenager.

ds1 has been square peg in round hole all his life. He is rounding his corners now at 14. But still yearns to be with like minded yoofs.
manners oh yes! But if kids spend all this time being told how incredible they are... Well an attitude is going to occur if you do not temper it with discipline.
aimee being musically gifted especially it is often called the artistic spectrum you know... They need egos of major height to be able to perform as they do.

I thought they were just like normal teenagers, grumpy, self-centred and think they know everything, I remember being just like that even without the massive iq.

KM I do sometimes think you take comments too seriously calm down

My DS is G&T too he is 12 nearly 13 but he isn't on their level but it was very interesting to watch these children the same age as DS

BUT I would tell him off if he ever spoke to a Dr like Dante did