There's been a trend as of late of ridiculously young kids becoming members of Mensa. For the uninitiated, Mensa is a club for wicked smart people. It's basically a grown-up version of your high schools AV Club. In the past 2 months, I've read about 3 kids under the age of 5 who joined after receiving high scores on an IQ test.
3-year-old Emmelyn Roettger was invited on the Today Show with her parents, presumably to demonstrate to their friends and neighbors that their kid is better than the others. Instead they managed to demonstrate that no matter how smart, a 3-year-old is still only 3 years old. Go ahead, watch the video, I'll wait.
Ok are you back with me? Good. Emmelyn gets up in the middle of the interview and declares that she has to poop. When her parents ignore her, as all parents do to a 3-year-old, she tries to take the mic off herself. It's the most adorable instance of a kid yelling "I have to poop".
After I got over the cuteness of young Emmelyn, I was reminded of the fact that she's 3 years old and already under the pressure of being in Mensa and on the Today Show. Whatever happened to a kid being a kid? Is she going to get to play in the mud or will her parents scold her because she's too smart for that? Will her father build her a tire swing or an astrolabe?
Don't you think we, as a society, are putting too much pressure on kids so young? I understand the need to encourage a child and help their intellect grow, but it's not worth it at the expense of their childhood. So to all the parents out there, encourage your kids, but remember that they are still kids.
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