Is it just me?

[TwoBlue]

Is it just me or do others find the "Australias brainiest kid" show a bit disturbing??

Dont get me wrong i am all for encouraging smart children but is this the right way to do it??

I mean they are just kids after all...

Whats your views on it?

[Shelly68]

Hey, they make me feel utterly stupid.

I don't agree with kids being that smart that young.

Yes, I understand they can't help being that smart but actually I feel sorry for them. I went to a school for 'gifted children' and it was horrible, had to go to school in the city instead of the nearest school to me and didn't have any friends etc etc. Oops, turning it into 'all about me', but I've had experience with it and it wasn't nice.

Look where it got me, lol, at least I can type 110 wpm (that's good for bubhub if nothing else :-)

What the hell are they going to do when they get to high school, they'd be bored silly. Oh hang on, these kids have probably already graduated from University. But then what, they can't leave school legally till they're 15 or 16 so what do they do in the meantime if they know everything already.

[Shelly68]

Samsmum,

Just a thought, perhaps you could ask one of these kids where your keys are.

they could mathematically work out theoretically where the keys were, lol

JUST A THOUGHT!!!!!


Okay I'm going to go watch Idol now, that's about my standard

[TwoBlue]

ROFLMAO Shelly !!

Thats a great idea hehehehehe :D
although i am sure it would be a bit too simplistic for them !!

[Shelly68]

Perhaps if you go up to Sam and 'aim high' with your expectations.

Say to him:

Sam, what is Einsteins theory of relativity,

he'll probably look at you like 'you're the idiot' and say

Mummy, the keys are hanging up on the hook where they've been all day :eek:

[cosmic]

Don't you think sometimes they sound like little grown-ups (but not in a good way)? As in, they sound like they are repeating everything mummy told them..? :rolleyes: Or is that just me not being able to relate at all to kids being that smart? That's probably more like it! :p

I saw one kid stuff up his questions the other night and he was beating himself up so badly.. I really felt sorry for him. Is that unnecessary pressure at that age? Or is is the same as a sporting competition? As you can tell, I'm not sure what I think about the whole thing...

[Shelly68]

I remember in one of the first shows this little boy didn't make the final however many it is and he was in absolute tears standing there at the podium.

Now how much crap would he have copped at school the next day, not for 'not making it', but for crying.

I think the expectations are too high and it's gotta be the parents pushing the kids IMHO

[TwoBlue]

I think the expectations are too high and it's gotta be the parents pushing the kids IMHO

This is what i think also....

like you said too Cosmic "Is that unnecessary pressure at that age?"
Yes.... i think it is

all in all i think its quite sad

[wattle]

Australia's brainiest dork. I can't help but see the ridiculous side of it. Far out, give these kids a ball and a bit of sunshine and let them be kids.

I'm still stunned that it's made prime time tv.

[TwoBlue]

well said Cathy

DH and i were stunned to hear one of the boys tonight not know the answer to
"what band sings "these days" and "??fill in title of song??"-cant remember which it was...
anyway it was obviously "Powder Finger"... really a boy of this age should know that !!??
but instead he knew the answer to some question that made DH and mines brains hurt just thinking about it !!

[j&k'smum]

I would like to watch it but I find it too hard because Sandra Sully's voice annoys me.!!!

[razzle]

I don;t like it either - apart from Sandra annoying the pants off me, I think it's wrong to put that much pressure on such young kids. It also labels them as "smart" or "dumb" and I don't like that either.

That kid on the first episode that cried just upset me so much. He was such a little sweetie and didn't need all that pressure. :( I haven't watched it since, just flicked by it a couple of times....

[tickle]

I couldn't watch it after I saw one of them cry as well.
It all seems so grown up and serious and then when they lose, some of them cry. I think it brings it all crashing back to the fact that these are kids. I feel really sorry for them.
Is it a bit like the pagent seen but for smart kids?? :rolleyes:

[TwoBlue]

well i am glad to know i am not the only one who feels this way.

When i saw that poor child cry, my heart just broke... poor kid.
and your spot on olivers*mum, its exactly like the "extreme" pageant scene for smart kids....

and LOL Rach and j&k'smum... i find Sandra soooo annoying too, i reckon those kids must make her feel pretty stupid though, half the time she doesnt even get to finish asking the question !!