#I'm very frustrated with the American education system I don't know enough about other countries education to comment on theirs

[everybody-hit-the-pyro-cue]

specialized education and gifted children programs are so fucked up I see the purpose but the execution and expectations are genuinely horrific I've yet to meet a single one of us that's doing okay besides from those who just reached their breaking point and chose to stop caring

[tibby]

Ok, former gifted child anon here. First of all, sorry for the vent. And thanks for being so nice, I know I was very angry and perhaps I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I saw a post saying that former gifted kids who feel dumb now "are nothing" and I was really triggered by it. Sorry for dumping all of my trauma on you, you're not a therapist and it could have triggered you. Second of all, I'm gonna get by, don't worry, I'm really gonna be fine. Third of all, you're right, us former gifted kids we have to realize that other people were also traumatised by the education system, it's fair to no one. But fourth of all, um, there are gifted kid programs in America? I was told I was gifted because it was easy for me to get good grades, and I had to deal with very high expectations, but that was the extent of it. There weren't any special programs in my country. What does that even look like? It sounds very discriminatory and classist towards other kids. And apparently racist too.

it’s okay! thank you for reaching out and apologising, and in turn i’m sorry if my original post came across as cruel and condescending. i don’t like to talk about my personal struggles on here for several reasons so i can understand why people would think it was coming from a place of ignorance, but you didn’t trigger me or anything, so there’s no need to be worried about that :)

like i said, there’s nuance to the issue, and i’m just frustrated by the amount of people who refuse to understand it’s an issue with the system, but that’s no excuse to not try and fix things on a personal level if you have the ability to do so.

anyway, i’m not american so i can’t talk about what the programs are or aren’t like over there, but i do have friends who have mentioned them, and if any americans following me want to elaborate, feel free to do so! all i can say from my experience as an australian is that if you were considered “gifted” in primary school you were pulled out of class for like an hour or so every week (or sometimes during lunch) to do ~extra~ learning that was more on your level, and that when i transferred schools in sixth grade, the class they put you in was dependent on your grades. but out of the three high schools i went to, only one of them had a gifted program which i believed you had to test for, but as i moved there halfway through high school, i never bothered with that. that was still enough to give a few kids i knew inferiority/superiority issues though, so i’m opposed to them even on that level (especially as the teens who were considered ~gifted~ were often the ones who could afford out of school lessons and tutors, whereas others didn’t have the means to do so.)