Eradicate âSmart Kidâ Norms
The goal of this post is to raise awareness to damaging behaviour towards a group otherwise ignored due to their academic prowess and supposedly problem-free lives, but not to hurt or offend other people. Fine if you agree that school isnât important, but this is purely an education-based opinion.
 - hate being compared toÂ
if you are the top of your class, every test is a problem. people will turn around when they get a result and try to see yours in order to evaluate themselves instead of take the grade theyâve been awarded. for example, instead of accepting you got a B, you see that the âsmart kidâ got a C and instantly feel better about yourself, or vice versa if they got more than you. this kind of behaviour is not only damaging to who youâre comparing to (since people often express their negative views on their grades towards you, commonly getting the âof course you would get an Aâ or âI canât believe I got more than you!â) but also to yourself - of course in school youâre taught to compare yourself, but your biggest competitor is yourself and you should always be aiming to outdo your best attempt rather than what the âswotâ gets.
- need to be supported regardless of their grades
a particularly sad experience I personally have is collecting my exam results last year. I went in with all my friends, they got their envelopes, jumped up and down in joy at what they got ⌠it came to my turn, I saw what I got, I turned around to tell them - and they told me not to say a thing. they didnât want to know! to an extent, I get this (see previous point about comparative self-worth) but when you achieve something, you wanted to be recognised and appreciated, especially by your friends. telling your smart friend not to share what they got on a paper is purely bad friendship - everyoneâs successes, no matter how small or frequent, deserve to be celebrated.
- arenât always bragging
this is a problem Iâm facing even now. they rarely talk about their achievements or grades in fear of being disliked or viewed as competition. if somebody gets an A on a mock, they feel like they can barely say a thing because they donât want to come off as lacking modesty or over-confident. how do you say things about how well youâre doing without offending, belitting or annoying other people?
- shouldnât carry your group projects
all Iâm going to say on this one is that if you let the âsmart kidâ do all the work in school, youâre wasting your own time. if you have to be in lesson for fifty minutes anyway, you might as well learn, rather than waste another fifty minutes elsewhere revising for your exam!
some people revise. others donât. be nice to your local âsmart kidâ - donât assume they revised all day and night for that A, that they put in 100% effort all the time to validate yourself, or get mad when you hear them say they didnât revise or are screwed for a test. People frequently donât revise for tests since they have more important exams coming up for but itâs not their fault if they still get a decent grade. some people are more suited towards a particular subject and thatâs okay, because you are too!
- have just as many worries
smart kids have worries too. they still fear about university applications, tests, job interviews, boyfriends, all the jazz that everyone else does. competency in a subject doesnât ensure you a place. the worrying fact that exists is that there will always be someone smarter, someone more experienced, someone generally better than you, regardless of whether you are smart or not, therefore you shouldnât get frustrated at people who are worried when you think they shouldnât be.
- arenât always well-behaved
they donât all wear glasses. they donât not have social lives. they donât all care about school. just like everyone else, intelligence means squat if youâre not having fun. whilst you should always respect the school system, donât assume that being smart means not making jokes or goofing off, or that doing those things will impact your intellectual performance in any way.
yes, I know I knew the answer yesterday. yes, I know I can do better than that. yes, smart kids have bad days! if an overachiever gets a lower mark than usual, be nice. it may make you feel good to have done better than the ânerdâ but imagine how they feel about it if they are academically-conscious. if theyâre nice to you, be nice to them. thatâs all there is to it.
of course âsmart kidsâ arenât out to get you, they will obviously give you assistance if you ask for it. nonetheless copying someoneâs work or getting them to do the work for you is wrong. itâs unfair to ask the âsmart kidâ for last nightâs homework if you didnât do it, or coast off their work because they sit a desk too close to you. keep your integrity when doing work.
- arenât only good at academic subjects
2018 should be the year we reject the concept that only STEM subjects count, that anyone who majors in English or Art or Drama isnât as intelligent as someone who does physics. recognise a degree for a degree, talent for talent, ability for ability. anybody can be a âsmart kidâ, it doesnât mean you have to score perfect As or have some quantifiable measure. redefine smart to mean knowledgeable and suddenly everyone you know, even you, is a smart kid.
- can only have an academic job
leading on from this, donât think that someoneâs ability defines their future career. someone could be a killer biologist but want to go into dancing. let them! itâs their choice and nobody should be defining it as wasted potential.
- donât feel intellectually superior
chances are, they donât care about intelligence. itâs nice to have but you know whatâs nicer? talking about Netflix, or football, or other interests with their friends weâre not numbers and grades, weâre people with passions, and intellect is a small part of a huge thing called personality that everyone has. especially at school age, an A* student isnât thinking they canât be friends with a D student. theyâre thinking about what theyâre having for dinner tonight, and when they can next hang out with their best friend.
- should never be belitted by teacher
finally, this is a general point that has affected a million students regardless of ability. teachers deserve respect but they can also lose it if they begin to treat the class unlike equals. smart kids may stereotypically be seen as teacherâs pets but in reality, it is often the other way round. they canât count the times a teacher has deliberately skipped them when searching for an answer, even if theyâre the only one with a hand up, or the amount of times theyâve been asked not to contribute, on both hands. everyone is entitled to an education so fair enough if a teacher wants to push less talkative students, but if it gets to the point where a smart kid has been stopped from talking for lessons on end, put on the spot with a particularly mean question or been downright bullied by the person who is supposed to be fair, speak up. the effects of being dampened can be long-lasting and hurtful, resulting in smart kids who no longer participate or enjoy school.
Again, this post wasnât meant to offend anyone, or put myself up on a pedestal as a âsmart kidâ. Of course, there are positives to doing well at school, like good job opportunities and academic success, but I see lots of awareness raised for students who donât do so good and feel like there should be balanced representation out here. The general moral from all of this is that everyone in education should be treated with respect and allowed to develop surrounded by support from peers and teachers regardless of their ability. This includes underachievers, overachievers, the coasters, the tryhards - any name you have for a type of student - 2018 is the year weâre eradicating education-based shaming.
