Should gifted children be allowed to skip grades? (Holiday Journal topic 1)

I agree most with Dr Lee Siew Peng in not supporting grade-skipping for gifted children. I agree with her on the point that ‘gifted children are not spectacularly more successful than their peers who are of 'lower' intelligence as children.’ She also cited evidence from Mr Lewis Terman’s study who found out that 'children with very high IQ did not necessarily make any mark in science, business, arts or commerce'. Thus, I see no reason to allow gifted students to skip grades since doing so may not enable them to make a mark in any area.

If gifted children are allowed to skip grades, the only benefit they will get is that they get to complete their education and probably start work earlier. But why cram two decade’s worth of education into a span of several years for gifted children and deprive them of a wonderful childhood? Childhood should be a time when children can play and enjoy, not studying all the time. As Dr Lee has said “All-round development is important.” While a child may be academically gifted, he may not be good at his social skills. Development of social skills of gifted children is important for it will help him or her to network with others and this will become increasingly important as he grows up. What better way to develop a child’s social skills than to place him/her in a class of children his/her age and allow him/her to interact? Thus, I feel that gifted children should not be allowed to skip grades.

Allowing gifted children to skip grades is not without risk. If the child is unable to cope with the higher level of academic performance that is required of him when he skips grades, he might become too stressed and suffer from stress-related problems and depression. Worst still, he/she might have to revert back to the normal academic curriculum for his/her age and that would waste a lot of time. Surely, this risk is not worth it when the potential benefits of doing so remains obscure. Recently, there was news on The Straits Times about a gifted teenager currently studying at NUS and he has not done as well as he has expected and regretted taking things so fast. This goes to show that skipping grades does come with a price.

Some may argue that not allowing gifted children to skip grades may stymie their maximum learning potential. Thomas Anthony said that ‘sticking to the current curriculum would only cause such a whiz-kid to become laid-back and complacent and, in due course, he might become so complacent that his current level of achievement takes a dip.’ Mdm Lai Ee Sa said that ‘the gifted child spends many hours in school and these hours would be better spent doing work that challenges and intrigues him, rather than on lessons on topics that he already has a good grasp of.’ To prevent this from happening, special exceptions could be made for the gifted pupils such as allowing them to do their own self study in class at faster pace than their peers. This way, the gifted child can not only mix around with children of the same age and develop his social skills but also challenge himself/herself intellectually.