“Extreme Parenting” Style

Quart's point is that from the time they're fetuses until they're old enough to be high-school math champions, we put pressure on our children to fly as high as they can — to be the best they can or rather the best that we think they ought to be, which is better than everybody else. So they're not just bright, they're "gifted" or "extremely gifted." Everybody's kid's a genius, right? ...

What, exactly, does it mean to be "profoundly gifted" or even just plain old "gifted"? Experts disagree. So do a battery of IQ tests. Quart herself doesn't seem clear on the point, and that's one of the great weaknesses of her book...

Quart seems to have her doubts about many of the parents she interviews and their "extreme parenting" style, although she's careful to try to see decent motives behind the pressures they put on their children. Many have been thwarted in their own ambitions and hope to protect the next generation from life's slings and arrows. It's not wrong, after all, to want to give your kid a head start in a competitive world.

Source: Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2003251271_hothousekids11.html