Test Prep 6: Responding to Non-Fiction

     I just read an article in New York magazine called The Vulnerable Age. The article follows Conrad Tao, a child piano prodigy. Although, this article isn't just about his amazing talent and phenomenal accomplishments. The article talks about the decisions families have to make about what to do with their uber-talented offspring. One can make their child into a celebrity, by making them practice 24/7 and isolating themself from the rest of society, or, one could throw out their child's talent, and have them live a normal life. This article discusses the pros and cons of both decision, and shows readers how hard the choice really is for parents to make.
     The author doesn't express a clear point of view on the issue, as he thinks both options have advantages and disadvantages. If one decides to show the world their kid's talent, they can become famous. They can showcase the amazing abilities of their child, and provide a good rest of the life for their kid. In doing this, however, their child may never acquire good social skills. The kid's time is completely devoted to practicing, and nothing else. Although, if you decide to throw out their talent, then they can live a happy normal life, like every other kid. But you will be throwing out an amazing skill that your child has. You have to give up on their talent, and not let anyone else know about it, no matter how impeccable he or she may be. You also may not letting your child succeed to the best of his/her abilities.
     I have to say, this is not an easy situation to have to deal with. If I were in this situation, I would want to showcase my child to the world, but I also wouldn't want them to have messed up childhood. There have been more than a few cases where child prodigies have committed suicide, unfortunately. I would not want to put my child in any situation that could possibly increase the risk of this kind of behavior. I definitely would want my child to be able to interact with people, and have a social life, because I think that's very important. However, I wouldn't want to forget about their skills. I would want to nurture their talents and have them shown to people, because they are so amazing. If someone has an outstanding talent, you should do something about it, not just let it float away. Therefore, it's a very hard decision to make. If I had to do something, I would probably have a balance between the two. If I was the parent of a prodigy, I would send them to school and have them hang out with friends, and have free time, but also work hard on practicing, and try to get them to showcase their talent as much as possible. As much as it would be really amazing to have a child of so much great talent, I would not want to have to be in a situation like this.