I REFER to the letter, "Three tips on handling whiz kids" (my paper, March 6).

The writer shared her views on how schools can handle bright children to bring out the best in them.

I agree that whiz kids have a lot of pride in their work and are therefore more sensitive to how their work is judged by their teachers.

However, having a delicate ego is an issue which affects a wider group than whiz kids alone.

The majority of students today have delicate egos and it all boils down to their upbringing.

Aside from laying the burden on teachers of supervising students and understanding their psychology, it is equally important for parents to avoid stressing to their children that they are smarter than other kids.

Students who excel in school for the most part of their education have delicate egos precisely because they are constantly reminded that their intelligence surpasses those of other kids in their age group.

They take a lot of pride in maintaining that positive image and hence often fail to pick themselves up when faced with failure or adversity.

Understanding how bright kids think is important, but being overly cautious about not hurting their egos will only do more harm than good.

Parents should teach their children how to handle problems when they crop up because life is not constant smooth sailing. Ms Sim Miao Zhen.

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