BRILLIANT CHILDREN...?

There is no mother who does not think her child is special if not actually brilliant.

- BY GOOLBAI GUNASEKARA

Can any mother be faulted for being a little blind in that area? As a former Principal I have met all types of mothers. All of them caring, concerned and loving. Perhaps into spoiling their children too but then the majority of mothers do this.

However, whenever I heard a mother tell me, “My child is doing brilliantly at school,” warning bells start ringing in my head. So the chat with my old friend, Rima was not one of undiluted pleasure. We were talking of her grandchild.

“How brilliantly?” I ask knowing grand parents are usually biased. (I am of course).

“Always first or second in class,“ comes the complacent answer.

“And what class may that be?” I ask a trifle apprehensible.

“He is now in the OL Prep but gets the Form Prize quite regularly.” Of course I hope that he continues this ‘Brilliant’ career but long experience has made me extremely wary of predicting that these outstanding students will continue to have a lifetime of top class achievement.

It is the children who are competent but not brilliant that make names for themselves later on in life. Parents tend to overlook other qualities a child might possess that are nonacademic. School reports unfortunately concentrate mostly on telling parents how well or how badly a child is doing in academics. There is rarely a section in school reports that gives grades for the following other talents;-

I shall list them for easy reading.

Imagination

Organizational skills

Leadership skills as opposed to bullying

The ability to shoulder responsibility