GRE Issue Topic 35

Sample 1:

Great minds have always had a great impact on society, whether through scientific discoveries, artistic and cultural enrichment, or political reform. However, harnessing the potential of brilliant minds by providing specialized training for gifted students is not necessarily the most effective method of encouraging talent to flourish. This method can have seriously damaging consequences like increasing the pressure to succeed, instilling a sense of superiority in students, and affecting their emotional development.

The first aspect to take in to consideration is the fact that participating in specialized training does not provide a guarantee of success further in life. In fact, as Prof. Joan Freeman shows, the percentage of gifted children that become incredibly successful in life is currently at an incredibly low 5%. Despite having scholarships and participating in gifted programs, the talented students that were part of her study failed to achieve their potential. According to her findings, fate, personality and drive are just as important to success as is proper education. A nice example is Jocelyn Lavin, an extremely gifted child, who left university without a degree, because she did not know what she wanted to do with her life. The same can be said for Ruth Lawrence, the math prodigy that went to Oxford at age 11. She has retired to Israel to raise her children ‘in a natural way’.

Furthermore, providing specialized training would create an enormous pressure to perform. Talented students would not only have to contend with parental pressure but would also have to bear the burden of being labeled ‘gifted’ and measure up to society’s expectations of success that come with it. A culture of excellence that promotes value based on achievements leads to feelings of anxiety, perfectionism and worthlessness – the students end up viewing love as conditional upon their success. Failure in such a context is something world–shattering. A good example to illustrate this point is the rate of depression and suicide in Japanese children – almost triple than that of UK or USA. Aptly named, the main reason for suicide in students is the pressure of Shiken Jigoku (Exam Hell). The same can be said about India, where about 20 students kill themselves every day due to the stress related to exams, wanting to secure seats in prestigious schools, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

Moreover, starting specialized training at an early age is likely to interfere with the emotional development of children. While gifted children can intellectually understand abstract concepts, they may be unable to deal with those concepts emotionally due to their age. According to Martha Morelock’s study, gifted individuals are prone to asynchronous development – an uneven rate of development in the cognitive, affective and physical domains. Specialized training focused solely on a child’s talents enhances the uneven development of the other domains and leads to a feeling of being ‘out of sync’ with their age group peers. More over, Morelock has found that when education prioritizes cognitive ability over emotional development, the gifted students in question adopt unhealthy lifestyles that center on perfectionism and self–criticism, often followed by depression and antisocial behavior. A perfect example is Sheldon Cooper, from the television series ‘The Big Bang Theory”. Sheldon who was a child prodigy fast–tracked his education and graduated college at the age of 14. While being extremely intelligent, Sheldon is also socially inept and possesses childlike qualities such as extreme stubbornness.

Additionally, like in Sheldon’s case, specialized training can isolate children, either through insufficient peer contact or having to fit in with older students. Nial Thompson is a real–life example – having started a math degree at Cambridge at age 15, he will graduate from university before his peers even start it. Unfortunately, due to the age disparity, he has only socialized once during his first year of university.

Lastly, starting a specialized training program from an early age can lead to students feeling like their childhood was stolen away. Andrew Halliburton, a math genius that did Mensa puzzles at age 11, confesses that ‘I feel like my childhood was sort of wasted, I didn't really get to go out as much as other kids...I never did learn to ride a bike”. He further explains that being labeled a genius is a great burden, because he always felt the pressure to live up to that expectation, but never once thought that he could.

All in all, it seems that participating in specialized training programs not only damages the student’s emotional development and adds an extreme pressure to perform, but it also has a low rate of success when it comes to student performances later in life.

Sample 2:

This statement rightly states that if children with special talents get training at an early stage, then they can do wonders in their respective fields. It is necessary to identify these children to give them the right direction. Otherwise, if these children do not get the chance and the facilities, they might be lost and it will be a loss to the society.

Sometimes, gifted children do not have means to develop their talents. Hence, it is the society or government’s duty to nurture their talents. It can be access to musical instruments or providing education. If a child has a special talent in scientific facts and researches, then he needs access to science labs. In the realms of science, especially in physics, it is important for society to pay more attention on genius kids so that they can eventually excel in research in the future. If one gets the facilities to grow then he might prove a prodigy for the society.

Similarly, students with outstanding talents for sports should be selected and trained separately. It will for make sure that they show their special talents to the maximum extent. Special training can polish a child and can produce an extraordinary athlete. The children need to be trained at an early stage and they need special coaching to win medals. They need special coaches. If they get the right guidance, they can smash all the previous records.

There should be special schools where students at the same level should be admitted and special training should be provided to them. In a free academic atmosphere, students will feel motivated, a sense of competition will be there, and it will constantly stimulate him or her to advance in the specific areas of his interest. This facility cannot be provided by common schools.

However, giving attention to the children with special abilities should not mean neglecting other kids. Providing facilities to specially gifted kids should not be at the expense of other children. Giving attention to some children might divide the children into fractions, which can cause ill effects on the delicate minds of the children. It would be undemocratic to give preference to some kids over others. The unchosen children might feel neglected and inferior. That would lead to childhood trouble.

The children who will get more attention and facilities might have the feeling of superiority and they might misuse their talent and facilities to harm the society. Sometimes, parents also push their children with special talents and affect their childhood and other times, parents simply refuse to acknowledge their kids’ special talents.

Hence, considering all these factors, it is important for the society to identify children with special talents and to nurture them. However, they have to take care not to neglect other children. It should not lead to social and economic disparity. A well-planned training or a talent program will systematically train the talented child on his way to reach the full potential at an early age.