Talent versus Education: What Should be the priority? (School first, talent later)

Golfer Tiger Woods, Macaulay Culkin, Lindsay Lohan and Justin Beiber have one thing in common. They are on the list of people who became rich and famous at a young age. They traded a normal childhood to perfect their crafts and talents which in turn made them celebrities. But a closer scrutiny at their lives shows that it is not as glamorous as it appears. Woods has anti-social traits, Culkin and Lohan have had their battle with substance abuse and Beiber has all sorts of problems. The problem with talent and abilities is that they easily lead you to think that they are all you need to polish to make it in life. They lead you to think that you need nothing else to get ahead in life. Of course before you realise that it may not materialise, it is at times too late, years have passed and the train has moved past your stop. As much as talent and abilities, be it in sports or arts, have been responsible in making people rich and famous no one wants to take that gamble with their children. We want them to have options and choices in case their talents do not materialise; we want them to have something to transit to when they can no longer earn a living from their talents. As much as we believe our children have extraordinary talents, there is no harm in having them go through school first before they can professionally pursue their talents. One would argue that they can double park between academics and polishing their talents, but this would distract them from perfecting any of them. Taking on both of them could also cause them to look at school as a stage being forcefully shoved down their throats. Looking at some child stars in Hollywood or athletes who traded a normal childhood that includes schooling, you get to see the role of education in children’s lives. You get to see that in school, it is more than just academics, you learn how to live. Through school you learn from life, you get in and out of fights in the process getting scared and growing a thick skin, you learn how to make friends and what sides to take. Those who would take talented children out of school are likely to be believers of wealth is the point of life. They probably believe that as long as you end up with a fleet of cars, a house and a bank account with seven figures, you have really lived. But accomplishment should be viewed as a journey, going through life stages when you should, learning when you should, working when you should and giving back when you should. Rushing these processes or trying to make children multi-task denies them a real childhood and it could easily break them.