“Society should identify those children who have special talents and abilities and begin training them at an early age so that they can excel in their

“Society should identify those children who have special talents and abilities and begin training them at an early age so that they can excel in their areas of ability. Otherwise, those talents are likely to remain underdeveloped.”

While there are some veritable points that were raised by the topic statement, I cannot find myself fully agreeing with all the sentiments raised by the author. I agree that by providing early training to a precocious child is advantageous to the development of the talents. However, to claim those talents are likely to remain underdeveloped otherwise is erroneous for talents and abilities can be cultivated even at an older age. Also, there is also a consideration of the objectivity of tracing the special abilities and talents in young children.

There is no denying that there are many benefits of providing training to a precocious child at an earlier age. Among the pros of providing training at a younger age is giving the child the advantage of focusing and understanding the use of their abilities earlier in the game as well as provide more time for learning. Also, training at a young age is ideal as a young child is more receptive and malleable to the learning process than at a later age.

While being able to detect precocious abilities at a younger age is definitely beneficial to the development of individual talents, it is erroneous to claim that the talents would likely remain underdeveloped otherwise. Let us consider several notions. First, are the special talents and abilities of a person only innately conceived? Or can special talents and abilities be cultivated? Though there are many child prodigies that are in existence in the world, there are also many other people who excel in their areas of ability even though they were not provided the training from a very young age. A person can become a great artist or musician by the merit of hard work, even though their talent was not traceable at a young age. Therefore by this claim, the notion of latent talents and abilities being likely to remain underdeveloped if not provided the appropriate training from young is wrong.

Also, one must consider the objectivity of the detection of 'special' talents and abilities in young children. Some talents in young children are more obvious to the eye than most. A baby banging her spoon rhythmically on her high chair might be an indication that the child has a good ear for music. A child being able to read content beyond the understanding of one of her age might also be an obvious indication of precociousness. Some talents are more easily seen and identified than others. What about children who are 'late bloomers'? Should we disregard their latent talent just because they did not demonstrate their abilities at a young age? Albert Einstein was teased for his speech impediment and slow manners in school, but now he is considered an iconic genius of the 20th century.

In sum, it is undeniable that there are advantages in identifying special talents and abilities in young children for we are able to provide them the training from an early age to help cultivate their talents. However, to claim that their talents and abilities will most likely remain underdeveloped without training from an early age is erroneous for their talents can be cultivated even at an older age and there is some questionable red mark about the objectivity of detecting special talents in the young.