By Emma Kaden
Over the years, young children graduated from elite universities, started businesses, and accomplished other major feats. Many of these achievements can be attributed to parents fighting for their child to receive a high quality education.
However, the current public school system fails to ensure that children reach their full potential. Federal and state governments overregulate education into a one-size-fits-all disaster. By doing so, the government prevents children from receiving a unique educational experience based upon their individual needs.
Oftentimes, when someone meets a “gifted” child, one from the plethora of young graduates and accelerated learners, they call them a genius and assume that they must be “really smart.” Yet, these children are merely the product of escaping the overly restrictive public school nightmare.
Some “gifted” students attend private or charter schools, homeschool, or take advantage of loopholes and workarounds that allow them to skip grades and avoid needless public school barriers. Most importantly, none of these children would be where they are if they had simply followed the traditional public school pathway to nowhere.
The truth is that any child can accomplish great things, if given the chance. Of course, everyone has natural advantages and disadvantages. However, if every child could pursue the education that best serves them, then perhaps being “gifted” wouldn’t be as rare as it is today.
How can this ideal become a reality? Parents must be involved in their children’s education and fight for the freedom to choose what school their child attends. This extends far beyond simply choosing a school—all families ought to have access to high-quality schools—and parents should have a role in determining school standards and curricula.
Attention all parents! This week is National Parenting Gifted Children Week, so set aside time to find the best school for your child and fight to ensure they receive the educational experience most suited for their needs. You don’t need to be the parent of a “gifted” child to advocate for freedom of choice. All you need is willpower and the understanding that every child has gifts and should be able to use them to reach their full potential.