Gifted

My son was tested and labeled "gifted and talented" before he entered kindergarten. He could identify the alphabet at 2, sit and draw for hours, and by 5 had some really nice critical thinking skills. He has won many writing contests in school. He is currently, as a junior, taking advanced physics and calculus. The kid is bright and good at school. So was/am I, frankly. I tried to instill the value of education. It was always an expectation that schoolwork was not only done but done well. I am a teacher, and my home was a place where learning could and would happen.

Somewhere in his sophomore year random absences started popping up. Then, after he got his license, there were many more. One day I caught him out driving at his lunch time with his girlfriend. He told me, with a completely straight face, that he was allowed to leave for lunch. I called his school counselor (who I knew personally) right away. The counselor said that my son knew absolutely that this was not allowed, and not only that but that he had to have some way of getting out of the parking lot that was false as there was a security guard. The counselor explained that this type of behavior was not something he usually saw at that age - the kids usually waited for that blatant disregard until late in their junior year.

This was just one of the ways in which I saw my boy slipping away.

He has since confided to me that he parked in the teacher's parking lot because no one checked on you if you were leaving; they assumed you were a teacher. So, he came and went as he pleased. He was very proud of himself for being so "ingenious."

I would really like to invite anyone who feels that they can relate to what I am saying to respond.