Now and again I stumble upon a story that fascinates me because it involves an aspect of history that I have never before encountered. So it was when I read a little blurb about a man named William Sidis, a child prodigy who gained widespread fame as the youngest person to enter Harvard University during his times.
William Sidis was born in 1898 to brilliant parents. His mother was a medical doctor and his father was a renowned psychologist. Both of his parents had fled political persecution in Russia. When their son William was born they both believed that focusing on early learning experiences would enhance their son’s intellect. They read to their infant and spoke to him in different languages. They exposed him to mathematics and topics often thought to be the realm of adults. William seemingly thrived while his parents wrote articles and books touting his genius and their child rearing methods.
While there are no official records of William taking an IQ test, his parents claimed that he may have scored in the 200 to 250 range which would have made him among the most brilliant persons in history. As a matter of fact William was indeed versed in high level mathematics while he was still a very young child. He also spoke a number of languages and wrote poetry. He appeared to be exceptional in any subject that he studied.
William’s parents decided to send their incredible son to Harvard University at the age of nine but the school wisely refused to accept someone so young. However two years later the school agreed to give William a try at the age of eleven. There William excelled in academics but struggled to adapt to the older students who sometimes made fun of him with his short knickers and high button shoes that marked him as a child among his trouser wearing classmates.
It should have become apparent to everyone that William was struggling with his social development but instead he became a sensation partly due to his parents who continued to insist that they had uncovered methods for tapping into a child’s intellect without bounds. William was suffering under the scrutiny of being famous. When he graduated at the age of sixteen he noted that the perfect life would be one of solitude but his parent’s had other ideas. They acquired a teaching post for him at Rice Institute in Houston, Texas where he taught undergraduate mathematics classes. The then seventeen year old struggled to connect with the students who were older than he was and after only a year the school he was asked to leave.
Things began to fall apart for William after that. He was arrested during a protest in which he attacked a police officer. He was found guilty of assault and sentenced to jail but his parents once again interceded on his behalf and agreed to send him to a sanitarium where his father worked. He received treatment there for a year and then went to another facility for an additional year. When he was finally released he essentially went under the radar for the remainder of his life taking low level jobs that did not require much education. He was careful to hide his true abilities lest he be hounded by the press once again.
William moved from place to place in relative obscurity. He seemed to find a certain kind of happiness in being unknown. He wrote several books under pseudonyms that included topics on thermodynamics and a history of Native Americans in the United States. At one point a writer from The New Yorker tracked him down, befriended him and then wrote an article about him that painted a picture that was unflattering. William sued and won a nice settlement but died from a cerebral hemorrhage in the same year. He was only forty six years old.
Today we hear of Tiger Moms who strictly guide the activities and directions of their children’s lives. We debate whether or not such close monitoring is good or bad. We talk about letting children be free range inventors of their own destinies versus products of the careful planning of their parents. Perhaps the story of William Sidis might give us pause in structuring the life of a child without consideration of all aspects of development.
A genius should indeed be challenged and offered opportunities to learn at a deep level but if we neglect their socio/emotional needs we run the risk of creating an adult who is unable or even unwilling to interact with society. The good parent understands the need to allow a child to explore and interact with all facets of being human. That means providing their offspring with moments to run and play and live in the world of children where we all learn how to adapt to the most human aspects of our personalities.
As an educator I never met a William Sidis who was so obviously more brilliant than his peers, but I did encounter very bright youngsters who were chomping at the bit to move more quickly through the curriculum. In most cases the schools were able to accommodate their needs without pushing them into a situation for which they were not yet emotionally ready. I think that perhaps the story of William Sidis might serve as a warning to parents that nurturing a child’s talents has to include age appropriate advancements.
We have seen so many times that pushing a highly talented athlete into adult situations too soon can destroy their futures. The same is true of child actors or musicians So many prodigies in any field of endeavor crash and burn because they never got to just be children. Fame enveloped them all too soon and they were psychologically unprepared to to cope. Furthermore those of us expecting great things from them only add to the pressures that they are not yet ready to endure.
Being a child should be a joyful experience. With balance we can help our youth to find their talents and guide them into greatness while also allowing them to make the choices about who they one day wish to be. It isn’t about rocket science. It’s about love. Our children are not extensions of ourselves. Their glory is not ours. If we remember that very important aspect of parenting they will ultimately find their way into lives that fulfill their dreams and make them happy as well.
We can learn from the story of William Sidis. Some say that when he finally broke free from the domination of his parents and a society that turned him into a person he did not want to be that he was actually a quite content person. The true fact is that geniuses are not made by brute force. They simply become.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 