Gifted Children and Their Future

I must admit that I am a book junkie, primarily nonfiction (although I enjoy a good mystery every now and then). Yes, I like educational journals as well. But books - well, I can’t get enough of them. Anyway, when I read, I do two things: 1) take notes, and 2) wonder how much better our society would be if society would read what I just read.

The other day I came across an article in the Winter 2016 edition of Hoover Digest. I was looking for articles on education - you know, like where we are today, what was done yesterday, what are the plans for the future. All relevant stuff. Many of us fight for the survival of the unborn. Rightly so. But once these children are born, our fight for them doesn’t stop. It moves to the battlegrounds of education and their security/safety to help ensure prosperity for their future. Let’s look at an issue regarding education.

The Hoover Digest article, “Fight for the Bright,” is a stirring piece about gifted children. The authors write about their plight, their predicaments, their challenges. You see, they represent tomorrow’s innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders who will make a positive difference in the world if allowed to do so. As stated, “the country needs these children to be highly educated in order to ensure its long-term competitiveness, security, and innovation.”

But what happens to those gifted children who come from less than ideal situations at home? Where money is tight, food is scarce, and provisions are minimal. How many of these children fall through the cracks later on because “nobody at home or school encourages them” to go to “high-status colleges despite ample evidence that they could gain admission, obtain sufficient financial aid, and succeed academically”? And no doubt professionally.

Long-term results are products of short-term thinking. This country needs these gifted kids. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - a measure of economic growth of the United States - has thus far in 2022 been in a falling pattern. The Conference Board forecasts U.S. economic growth for this year at 1.7 percent year-over-year. A pitiful number! Economists estimate “that a 10 percentage-point increase in the share of top-performing students within a country is associated with 1.3 percentage points higher annual growth in that country’s economy (GDP).” The authors mention a 1993 report which stated “The United States is squandering one of its most precious resources - the gifts, talents, and high interests of many of its students.” Let’s help all children succeed! We can be a better society than this article depicts!

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”

Psalm 139:14