When I was in school there was a program called the Gifted and Talented Program or GT for short. The thing about the program was that it was for students who were considered to be "gifted" and "talented," meaning that all those who were in the program where supposed to have above average IQs.
See the thing about the GT program is that as students we were all segregated from the rest of the student body. The only time that we engaged with other students was either doing recess, PE, and sometimes lunch. But for the most part, as I already said, we were cloistered up amongst ourselves. Year after year it was always the same students, different teachers, but the same students. Oh sure you had some students who were new, some who left the program either because it was too hard for them or because they had moved, but the majority of the students in the class stayed the same.
So year after year we were all stuck together, we never really interacted with the other students. And the reason why this is so bad, why this program was so terrible, was because it didn't let us interact well with others who were different from us.
It was like we were set apart from everyone else, we were the GT students, the smart ones. In fact we were even told that we were smarter than all the other students, that we were special. The other students just weren't as creative as we were, they weren't as smart.
And this developed a superiority complex amongst us GT students. We were told that we were better than the other students and so we believed it. The others just weren't as smart as us, we were the special ones.
I don't think I have to tell you why this was bad.
As a whole we were a pretty stuck up bunch. We looked down on the others. Well... Not all of us, but I can tell you it wasn't very pleasant being in that program.
It turned kids into narcissists. Condescending, entitled, beasts who looked down on anyone deemed 'inferior,' ( a.k.a. dumber). During award ceremonies us GT students marched up to the stage with smug looks on the smug looks on our faces as we accepted our rewards. I remember students for others classes staring at us in the halls, with this look of awe on their face. And we in turn, smugly head our heads high and looked at our noses at the other non GT students.
I hated it. I finally left the program after three years, I'd had enough. Enough of the bullying, enough of the "rules" imposed by my classmates during recess, enough of the work, the expectations, the teachers who wouldn't accept anything but perfection, (we were the 'GT' kids after all). Enough of the attitudes of my fellow classmates... Just enough. By the time I left the program, all dignity and self-esteem that I had once had was gone.
It wasn't too long after I left the program, left the school, that the Gifted and Talented Program was discontinued.
The whole set up of the program still irritates and disgusts me. Basically segregating students due to their IQ is just a recipe for disaster. We were just kids. We should have been in the same rotation as the others. Starting every year with a new class, filled with mostly new classmates, and maybe a few familiar faces. But no. We were kept together, some had even been in the same class since Kindergarten.
I don't know about the others, but I found Middle school and High school somewhat refreshing, (it was as stressful as h*ll, at least for me). Instead of being stuck with the same students you could know choose. If you wanted to be in the advanced English class but not the Math, then you could. Not great at History but have a knack for Science? Be in the advanced Science class and the regular History class.
In this way you could further strengthen the areas that you were the best in and challenge yourself. If their was a particular subject that you weren't that great in, then you didn't have to stress about taking advanced lessons.
The best part by far however, was that you got to interact with so many more people. Make friends you never would have made before. I found that to be the best part of leaving the GT program behind. I could meet new people, make new friends, and not have to worry about status structure that wad implemented in the GT classes by my own fellow classmates. I didn't have to worry anymore about their pecking order. I could relax more, I could enjoy some of my classes.
It was wonderful.
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