Why don’t parents tell their teenage children their i.q./how bright they are?

There are pros and cons to telling children their I.Q. My child was in a class of gifted children so the parents all told their children their I.Q. They thought it would be positive since their children have high I.Q.s. But, then the children all compared their I.Q.s and suddenly a 127 doesn’t look so good when compared with a 157.

My children have a 20 point spread and they looked up their I.Q.s in my papers. Now one has to live with the fact that he is the least intelligent member of the family.

I.Q. tests do provide some information regarding intelligence but they are not very well designed. I.Q. tests don’t assess memory which is a very important component of intelligence. I.Q. tests rarely measure processing speed, another important component of intelligence. When they do measure processing speed they do so inadequately. There are various regions of the brain that are responsible for our intelligence and not all of these regions are tested on an I.Q. test.

All in all, I do agree that children should be given some information in regard to their intelligence so they understand their relationship to education. In most cases it is sufficient to tell children they are within the average range 85-115, they are above average 101-120 or they are gifted 120+. They should be told that they have the ability to succeed in college. Children who are on the outskirts of intelligence and very different should receive an explanation.

Some parents DO tell their children but telling them at a young age can really be risky. It can cause focus on the brain rather that the heart of the person. Ask your mom to see your test results. I cannot imagine that you were not placed in gifted (not that they would lie to you) but something doesnt seem quite right here.???