Is It A Good Thing That A Nine-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School
Don’t get me wrong here, I’m blown away by David Balogun. This nine-year old’s ability to graduate high school is beyond stunning. Whenever I read these stories though, I wonder, “Why?” We’ll get to that in a second. First let’s celebrate the accomplishment.
Balogun loves science and computer programming. His teachers from Reach Cyber Charter School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania worked with Balogun and his family in allowing him to take classes remotely to make this early graduation possible. Despite both of the boy’s parents have advanced degrees and according to a Los Angeles television station raising a person like David has its challenges, “He’s a 9-year-old with a brain that just has the capacity to understand and comprehend a lot of concepts that’s beyond his years and sometimes beyond my understanding.”
David has aspirations of becoming an astrophysicist. He’s already taken classes at a local community college remotely. Now, his parents say their looking at colleges and universities across the nation. Now let’s get back to my initial query.
Why? Why put a boy through this? Just because someone is intellectually capable of surviving in a college classroom, does not mean he is even remotely capable of socially surviving. Let’s be real here. He’s still several years from puberty! Am I the only person who sees these instances of academic over-achievement and worries about the psychological damage that is being invited by them? And I’m not saying, “hold anyone back.” No, I’m just saying perhaps stimulate them in other directions than the classroom simultaneously. Exposure to the art, sports, music, these are all okay as well. There’s nothing wrong with smart kids developing hobbies outside of the classroom. These hobbies might also involve social interaction with peers. AND THAT’S HUGELY IMPORTANT TOO!
I wish David Balogun the best. I just worry that this sort of achievement is a potential gateway to disaster.
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