this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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I was in the "gifted and talented" program as a kid and all it meant was I got more homework lmao. Good thing I loved reading and actually enjoyed being assigned novel chapters
I think I pretty quickly came to the conclusion that I was effectively being punished for understanding the normal material more easily than my classmates, and I didn't get why my "gifted and talented" work was necessary, since it was, to me, bonus material, and not even interesting bonus material.
A core memory of mine is after showing up one time without an assignment done, my teacher decided to go around the room asking what everyone wanted to be when they grew up. All my G&T classmates said standard kid answers like doctor, lawyer, firefighter, whatever. Not being a smartass, I gave the genuine answer that, because I really liked Taco Bell, and there was a taco bell in walking distance, I'd be happy to work there and get some free Taco Bell.
Teacher called my parents.
How the fuck was I supposed to know giving a real, and in hindsight significantly more attainable answer was unacceptable? We were in elementary school, so why the hell would I know at that point that basic food service is basically non-viable in America?
They basically fucked me over for life in math.
At first, us "academically gifted" kids were only separated from the general population for language arts, but later in middle school they expanded the program for math, and the way they implemented that was we skipped 7th grade math entirely and took the normal 8th grade curriculum, "pre-algebra." So that as a freshman in high school, I would take 10th grade math, etc.
I think I took less time than the average 6th grader to "get it." I didn't need 50 practice problems for homework to become proficient in long division, 30 would do. I think a 7th grade math class that included a little less plug and chug practice and more word problems and practical application, ie reinforcing what this math we're learning is for and how to really use it, would have helped me a lot.
Instead, I was just thrown forward a year and expected to just handle it, and even taking a course called "advanced math topics" which amounted to "algebra 3" rather than taking pre-calculus my senior year of high school, I never caught back up.
Something really similar happened to me in lower grades. As a result of their fuckery I had big gaps in basic math and it caused me problems/self doubt that lasted... Actually I'm still really self conscious about it god dammit. Everyone saw that stupid rain man movie and little ADHD "weird kids" like me that just really liked reading got screwed