Gifted Kids' Bill of Rights

I recently came across the Gifted Kids' Bill of Rights. It was written by Del Siegle, who is currently president of the National Association of Gifted Children.

1. You have a right to know about your giftedness.

2. You have a right to learn something new every day.

3. You have a right to be passionate about your talent area without apologies.

4. You have a right to have an identity beyond your talent area.

5. You have a right to feel good about your accomplishments.

6. You have a right to make mistakes.

7. You have a right to seek guidance in the development of your talent.

8. You have a right to have multiple peer groups and a variety of friends.

9. You have a right to choose which of your talent areas you wish to pursue.

10. You have a right to not be gifted at everything.

Tamara Fisher has written an article elaborating on each of these points.

I think the main themes are that gifted does not equal perfect and that gifted kids should not be forced to dumb themselves down for the benefit of other people or institutions. People often take the term "gifted" to mean that these children are somehow less deserving of proper educational environment. They do everything so well. Why should they be upset or need special accomodations? It would be wonderful is all schools took seriously the need to provide a challenging educational environment for everyone.