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<p>Only it appears to me there is no to worry about along these lines (contrabands are at arm’s length and the temptations to indulge) in middle schools and high schools in our nation than in colleges and graduate dorms, especially at MIT, where the most recent study I’ve seen has a higher percentage of virgins than any other school studied (some could say this is due to poor social skills and being unable to find partners to have sex with, but I suspect it is more due to the students not being in any rush to have sex…I know this is the case for some of my son’s friends as they have actually had open discussions with me about it on chats I’ve had while visiting MIT). Yes, there are wild parties at MIT (our son noted that the frat party he went to Friday night after the fireworks had a midget dancing on a table and an inflatable swimming pool on the roof, for example, and he also noted that most people seemed drunk), but there are also people from a young age who know how to say no. When I was around 8, my brother and his best friend held me down on the kitchen counter to stick a cigarette in my mouth and light it (they had both recently taken up smoking and perhaps felt they wanted to force me to smoke, too, so I wouldn’t tell our parents) and I spit it out in the friend’s face no sooner than was it lit and to this day, have never smoked a cigarette or anything else. I dated over 100 guys in college and never had sex with any of them. I had friends offer me pot in high school and cocaine in college, but never had any desire to join them in their doing drugs. I also gave up alcohol early in college (I went when 18 was the legal age, though it changed while I was there to 21, I was still able to drink legally as they didn’t take the right away from those who already had it) and never drank booze again till I was finished with graduate school and dating my now husband. My husband similarly had a strong ability to “just say no” when he deemed it would be wise to say no, and self-control DOES have a genetic link (read Matt Ridley’s book “Genome” if you want the details here), so we have reason to <em>guess</em> our son will be able to keep his self-control as a teen and young adult just as he did as a young child not breaking into candy jars and cookie jars when he was told he shouldn’t eat them before dinner and such. The best predictor of the future is the past, and while it is but a mere predictor, it is the best one.</p>
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<p>Exactly, and that is why I was surprised when MIT was willing to admit our son at 14.</p>
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<p>This is also my concern. I’ve given our son books like 'What Price Fame?" and constantly been pointing out the issues with his goals since age 2 (or earlier, but he first voiced them at age 2) to own his own business and invent something “big” that would put his name down in history as an inventor. Unfortunately, many if not most people expect early to college kids to do <em>big</em> things rather than just the same level of things as someone who started college at a regular age, which I feel unfair, even if it’s somewhat justified by the history of early to college kids (as that group has a far higher eminence rate than the group who start college at a typical rate, likely due more to their simply being smarter as a group that the typical age start group than due to starting college early) to <em>anticipate</em> that the early college kid <em>might</em> do big things someday. But to <em>expect</em> it, as some do, can put a real burden on children, especially if they have parents who feel it is morally a waste to not do something big if one is highly intelligent (our son doesn’t have parents who feel there is any moral obligation to do anything other than be nice to others and be able to support himself and a family should he have one as an adult).
For many, the consensus seemed to be that it was.</p>
<p>I am close friends with a mom who sent her 13 year old to college. She went locally, and had like company as the school had such a program which worked well. She loved those 4 years and did well. She is now a very well balanced, delightful young adult, who is successful, but not stupendously so. Her mother says that there seem to be expectations from others that the young lady should be some sort of a super star, rather than someone who spend high school years doing college work. Simple as that, an alternate way to spend those 4 years. Mom things, and I concur that the time was well spent for her. If it were not, well, there are many other kids who have had bad high school and/or college years.</p>
<p>You wrote: They seem to be doing as well or better for the most part, than the regular college kids. Some were not doing as well.</p>
<p>My question is, “What percent were doing as well or better than regular college kids versus what percent were not?” If 50% of the early college kids were doing better than the regular college kids, that is probably support for early college right there, especially as many of these kids might have been even worse off had they not accelerated based on what research I’ve read comparing people with similar SAT scores in the talent search at age 12 who went to college early versus staying with peers.</p>