I think back to when my children were in pre-school and remember teachers suggesting one of them was "socially immature."   She wasn't boisterous like the other children.   One teacher suggested that she lacked self-confidence.   Another thought she should repeat Kindergarten because while she was in private pre-school, she would be going to public schools beginning in first grade and, this teacher said, "she will be eaten alive" by the other, "more developed" children.

You know, the same things were said about me when I was young.   But back then they didn't hold kids back for social immaturity the way they sometimes do now.   And I wondered about this notion that every kid is supposed to fit the mold of the "normal, boisterous, self-confident child."   I certainly didn't until about 8th grade.   This teacher who wanted to hold my kid back seemed pretty self-confident for someone who had attended a third rate college and probably barely gotten by.   Magna Cum Laude students with multiple serious majors don't frequently become kindergarten or grammar school teachers, or even high school teachers.   That's a shame but it is what it is.

A child doesn't fit the pattern a second rate intelligence expects in a "normal child" so he or she is held back due to "social immaturity."   In my kid's case, no harm no foul.   But I imagine some kids suffer the consequences of this improper recognition of potential.

It's not just the being held back thing.   It's also the way teachers interact with kids.   I can recall a number of kids who fit the pattern of "socially immature" when I was in my early years of school.   These kids were even less socially mature than I was.   And the teachers treated them very poorly because they became frustrated that their attempts to "bring the kids up into the real world" were not coming to fruition.   I remember one teacher in particular instructing the class to bring in pacifiers for "Brian" because he is a baby.   One girl did and the teacher presented the pacifier to the kid in front of the rest of the "normal, boisterous, self-confident class."   There's a special place in hell waiting for her.

A few of these "socially immature" and mistreated kids became druggies or failed in various other ways.   Some overcame the obstacle of being categorized by a dullard into the overly needy group and became some of the best students in my high school class.   Many of the "socially immature" were rather intelligent when they hit higher education and went on to do great things no thanks to their early chiuldhood teachers.

Today there is a news report which discusses a scientific study which concludes that smart kids' brains develop ore slowly than the "C" student type.   So perhaps these "socially immature" kids should be treated differently, just not the different way the dullards who populate our school teaching profession treat them.   All you teachers out there please take note of this truth: a little knowledge in the hands of a person with below average intelligence can be a dangerous thing!   Unless you know what you are doing, at least consider the consequences of your actions on other people, especially the potentially very bright ones.