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Former Gifted Child

Added about a year ago / Updated about a year ago
Former_gifted

Submission   4,501

catalina @fiImaker Former gifted child remembering Shapes & Colors class II GIF ALT I liked it. I was good at it. амс
Me when I was a kid getting high grades me now failing life 18
seraph @seraphfem me as a former gifted child that's grown into an adult that can barely do algebra 2:25 PM Jul 4, 2018 ●
bananonbinary one of the hardest things to learn as a depressed former Gifted Kid(tm) is that half-assed is better than nothing. take the 50%, 40%, even 20% job. scrubbing your face is better than not taking a shower at all. picking up your clothes is better than never cleaning. nibbling on some bread is better than starving. Follow DO THINGS HALFWAY. NOW YOU'RE 100% BETTER OFF THAN YOU WERE BEFORE. #the hardest part is getting over comparing yourself to a hypothetical healthy version of you #as long as you're better than the you of yesterday who cares if youre still worse than 'healthy you' ... See all Blaze 206,116 notes
youbuiltcathedrals if u were a gifted/talented child who grew into an anxious adult w fragile self worth and a perfectionist streak that makes u abandon things if ur not good at them immediately clap ur hands #IT ME 344,098 notes Jul 29th, 2016 : t]
What y'all think 'gifted child' discourse is saying: I used to be special and now I'm not and that makes me sad. What 'gifted child' discourse is ACTUALLY saying: The way many educational systems treat children who've been identified as 'gifted' is actively harmful in that it a. obliges kids to give up socialising with their same-age peers in favour of constantly courting the approval of adult 'mentors' who mostly don't give a s--- about them, b. demands that they tie their entire identity to a set of standards that's not merely unsustainable, but intentionally so, because its unstated purpose is to weed out the 'unworthy' rather than to provide useful goals for self-improvement, and c. denies them opportunities to learn useful life skills in favour of training them up in an excruciatingly narrow academic skill-set that's basically useless outside of an institutional career path that the vast majority of them will never be allowed to pursue. #school #education #discourse #swearing 142,521 notes Nov 9th, 2018 : t]
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About • Origin • Spread • Various Examples • Search Interest • External References • Recent Images

About

Former Gifted Child sometimes called Formerly Gifted Child refers to memes and discussions about people who consider themselves to have been gifted or intelligent when they were younger. This self-conceptualization is often paired with the concession that one is no longer as bright as one thinks they were. Laments about being a "formerly gifted child" are sometimes met with criticism on the assumption that "formerly gifted" adults are overstating the importance of their childhood accomplishments.

Origin

A May 5th, 2013 post on /r/AskReddit[1] posed the question, "Redditors who were labelled as "gifted" children, do you think the label harmed you, or helped you?" The post received several responses from Redditors who identified as "formerly gifted" children who were harmed by the trope because they did not live up to expectations set up for them.

Discussions about being a "former gifted child" also gained traction on Tumblr[2] in the mid-2010s, as seen in a post by Tumblr user youbuiltcathedrals from July 29th, 2016 (seen below).

youbuiltcathedrals if u were a gifted/talented child who grew into an anxious adult w fragile self worth and a perfectionist streak that makes u abandon things if ur not good at them immediately clap ur hands #IT ME 344,098 notes Jul 29th, 2016 : t]

Spread

By the late 2010s, criticism of the phrase "former gifted child" began to gain traction, as noted by a Tumblr[4] post by prokopetz from November 9th, 2018, gathering over 140,000 notes in six years (seen below).

What y'all think 'gifted child' discourse is saying: I used to be special and now I'm not and that makes me sad. What 'gifted child' discourse is ACTUALLY saying: The way many educational systems treat children who've been identified as 'gifted' is actively harmful in that it a. obliges kids to give up socialising with their same-age peers in favour of constantly courting the approval of adult 'mentors' who mostly don't give a s--- about them, b. demands that they tie their entire identity to a set of standards that's not merely unsustainable, but intentionally so, because its unstated purpose is to weed out the 'unworthy' rather than to provide useful goals for self-improvement, and c. denies them opportunities to learn useful life skills in favour of training them up in an excruciatingly narrow academic skill-set that's basically useless outside of an institutional career path that the vast majority of them will never be allowed to pursue. #school #education #discourse #swearing 142,521 notes Nov 9th, 2018 : t]

On October 28th, 2019, X[3] user @HotMusicTakes made a post that read, "You are not a. "Former Gifted Child" you got called smart Once by an. English teacher for reading Of Mice And Men fast," gathering over 1,500 likes in five years (seen below).

hmt @HotMusicTakes You are not a. "Former Gifted Child" you got called smart Once by an. English teacher for reading Of Mice And Men fast 9:43 AM Oct 28, 2019 :

A post by X[5] user @HollyStallcup from September 5th, 2023 read, "FYI to high achievers/straight A-ers/gifted and talented-ers, my therapist says a lot of us get existential this time of year because our whole lives revolved around school and our bodies don't know what to do without it" (seen below, top). The post gathered over 11,000 likes in six months, but also garnered some mockery, as seen in a parody post by @_unwell on X[6] (seen below, bottom).

Holly Stallcup @HollyStallcup FYI to high achievers/straight A-ers/gifted and talented-ers, my therapist says a lot of us get existential this time of year because our whole lives revolved around school and our bodies don't know what to do without it. 5:18 PM Sep 5, 2023 4.7M Views
isabel pabán freed @_unwell FYI to high achievers/straight A-ers/gifted and talented-ers, my therapist says all the therapists compare notes and if you're impressive enough in early sessions, you can get into honors therapy, but if you aren't impressive enough, it's sign of an incurable sickness of the soul 11:46 AM Sep 6, 2023 40.8K Views

Various Examples

REPORT CARD B A- B+ B- B Decent but not amazing grades Started to struggle at the end of high school A former "Gifted" student Starterpack Got constant praise from teachers as a kid 8 Dropped out of college REDDIT TIL TODAY LEARNED Most of the knowledge they had was random trivia they learned on the TV and internet. "You know, I just don't apply myself" (They are really lazy) Was only smart when compared to the stupid kids back in school
respectful huff @alexqarbuckle former gifted child remembering Shapes & Colors class II GIF ALT I liked it. I was good at it. 3:49 PM Sep 7, 2023 296.8K Views амс :
hadeantaiga of course i have a praise kink, i'm a burnt out former gifted child. drygingergood hadeantaiga This is the most addition to this post but I also can't f------ argue with it because it's true. 55,570 notes
seraph @seraphfem me as a former gifted child that's grown into an adult that can barely do algebra 2:25 PM Jul 4, 2018 ●
grovy mango @grovymango im not former gifted student. i am still gifted. put me in a fourth grade class i'll annihilate them all like i did the first time 1234713 Follow

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References

[1] Reddit – /r/AskReddit

[2] Tumblr – youbuiltcathedrals

[3] X – HotMusicTakes

[4]  Tumblr – prokopetz

[5] X – HollyStallcup

[6] X – _unwell

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Former Gifted Child

Former Gifted Child

Updated Mar 04, 2024 at 10:07PM EST by Rebecca Rhodes.

Added Mar 04, 2024 at 11:20AM EST by sakshi.

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About

Former Gifted Child sometimes called Formerly Gifted Child refers to memes and discussions about people who consider themselves to have been gifted or intelligent when they were younger. This self-conceptualization is often paired with the concession that one is no longer as bright as one thinks they were. Laments about being a "formerly gifted child" are sometimes met with criticism on the assumption that "formerly gifted" adults are overstating the importance of their childhood accomplishments.

Origin

A May 5th, 2013 post on /r/AskReddit[1] posed the question, "Redditors who were labelled as "gifted" children, do you think the label harmed you, or helped you?" The post received several responses from Redditors who identified as "formerly gifted" children who were harmed by the trope because they did not live up to expectations set up for them.

Discussions about being a "former gifted child" also gained traction on Tumblr[2] in the mid-2010s, as seen in a post by Tumblr user youbuiltcathedrals from July 29th, 2016 (seen below).


youbuiltcathedrals if u were a gifted/talented child who grew into an anxious adult w fragile self worth and a perfectionist streak that makes u abandon things if ur not good at them immediately clap ur hands #IT ME 344,098 notes Jul 29th, 2016 : t]

Spread

By the late 2010s, criticism of the phrase "former gifted child" began to gain traction, as noted by a Tumblr[4] post by prokopetz from November 9th, 2018, gathering over 140,000 notes in six years (seen below).


What y'all think 'gifted child' discourse is saying: I used to be special and now I'm not and that makes me sad. What 'gifted child' discourse is ACTUALLY saying: The way many educational systems treat children who've been identified as 'gifted' is actively harmful in that it a. obliges kids to give up socialising with their same-age peers in favour of constantly courting the approval of adult 'mentors' who mostly don't give a s--- about them, b. demands that they tie their entire identity to a set of standards that's not merely unsustainable, but intentionally so, because its unstated purpose is to weed out the 'unworthy' rather than to provide useful goals for self-improvement, and c. denies them opportunities to learn useful life skills in favour of training them up in an excruciatingly narrow academic skill-set that's basically useless outside of an institutional career path that the vast majority of them will never be allowed to pursue. #school #education #discourse #swearing 142,521 notes Nov 9th, 2018 : t]

On October 28th, 2019, X[3] user @HotMusicTakes made a post that read, "You are not a. "Former Gifted Child" you got called smart Once by an. English teacher for reading Of Mice And Men fast," gathering over 1,500 likes in five years (seen below).


hmt @HotMusicTakes You are not a. "Former Gifted Child" you got called smart Once by an. English teacher for reading Of Mice And Men fast 9:43 AM Oct 28, 2019 :

A post by X[5] user @HollyStallcup from September 5th, 2023 read, "FYI to high achievers/straight A-ers/gifted and talented-ers, my therapist says a lot of us get existential this time of year because our whole lives revolved around school and our bodies don't know what to do without it" (seen below, top). The post gathered over 11,000 likes in six months, but also garnered some mockery, as seen in a parody post by @_unwell on X[6] (seen below, bottom).


Holly Stallcup @HollyStallcup FYI to high achievers/straight A-ers/gifted and talented-ers, my therapist says a lot of us get existential this time of year because our whole lives revolved around school and our bodies don't know what to do without it. 5:18 PM Sep 5, 2023 4.7M Views
isabel pabán freed @_unwell FYI to high achievers/straight A-ers/gifted and talented-ers, my therapist says all the therapists compare notes and if you're impressive enough in early sessions, you can get into honors therapy, but if you aren't impressive enough, it's sign of an incurable sickness of the soul 11:46 AM Sep 6, 2023 40.8K Views

Various Examples


REPORT CARD B A- B+ B- B Decent but not amazing grades Started to struggle at the end of high school A former "Gifted" student Starterpack Got constant praise from teachers as a kid 8 Dropped out of college REDDIT TIL TODAY LEARNED Most of the knowledge they had was random trivia they learned on the TV and internet. "You know, I just don't apply myself" (They are really lazy) Was only smart when compared to the stupid kids back in school respectful huff @alexqarbuckle former gifted child remembering Shapes & Colors class II GIF ALT I liked it. I was good at it. 3:49 PM Sep 7, 2023 296.8K Views амс : hadeantaiga of course i have a praise kink, i'm a burnt out former gifted child. drygingergood hadeantaiga This is the most addition to this post but I also can't f------ argue with it because it's true. 55,570 notes seraph @seraphfem me as a former gifted child that's grown into an adult that can barely do algebra 2:25 PM Jul 4, 2018 ● grovy mango @grovymango im not former gifted student. i am still gifted. put me in a fourth grade class i'll annihilate them all like i did the first time 1234713 Follow

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References

[1] Reddit – /r/AskReddit

[2] Tumblr – youbuiltcathedrals

[3] X – HotMusicTakes

[4]  Tumblr – prokopetz

[5] X – HollyStallcup

[6] X – _unwell

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Recent Images 26 total


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Matsuo_kun
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Matsuo_kun

"You're on the Academically Gifted and Talented Program now!"
"Great! So I'll be in a different class?"
"Nope!"
"I'll get advanced material?"
"Nope!"
"What changes, then?"
"Nothing, your ego just gets bigger so it's all the more devastating when it bursts in a few years!"

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