Beyond Burnt Out

Consistently praised for having the fastest time on Rocket Math and the highest score on the Kansas Assessments, I was hit with a harsh reality check when I made it to high school. No matter how much time I spent in EL (Enhanced Learning) or how many people called me “gifted,” high school was a different reality. I was being academically challenged for the first time in my life.

The term “gifted kid burnout” has recently been identified by my fellow former EL kids, and it’s popping up everywhere from my TikTok ForYou Page to the recents category in the New York Times. 

Labeled from a young age as “gifted,” students reach higher-level classes in high school and find they’re struggling more than they’ve been told they should be by their teachers and peers. Even though everyone seems to be collectively laughing about it on TikTok, the serious undertones to the message are very real and point out an underlying flaw in the education system — students are put under incredible pressure to reach unattainable standards of perfection.

Surrounded by the “brightest” from an early age, I assumed success was only attained through being able to easily accomplish every given task. If the math problem didn’t instantly click, or I didn’t get a 100% on the history quiz without studying, I was stupid. I should know the material before any long-lasting attempt at learning it, or I am not smart enough to be in the class. 

But I found out soon enough that not everything comes easily. Maybe I didn’t ace my first biology quiz, or figure out the last chemical equation. And from there, it was a downward spiral.

Following the “put-a-finger-down” TikTok challenge, I realized all the traits — perfectionism, procrastination, fear of failure — were qualities I resonated with. So when all my fingers were down and I heard the final line telling me these were all related to “gifted kid burnout,” it all clicked for me. 

I never would’ve thought a current struggle of mine could be related to my “gifted kid” label in elementary school, mostly because I forgot that I had even been one until the trend appeared on my phone.

According to helpguide.org, burnout is a state of “emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress.” And paired with students who were told early on that they’re “gifted,” the stress of living up to the title has brought us to a state of, to put it simply, exhaustion.

The list of social-emotional traits attributed with this burnout, according to Pace Academy, include anxiety, depression and harmful perfectionism, along with feelings of constantly underachieving, difficulty sleeping, issues with time management and procrastination. I’m a big fan of personality quizzes or anything explaining why I am the way I am, so finding a reason for my constant need for perfectionism and procrastination at least gave a slight sense of satisfaction.

But let’s be clear — this isn’t some group of smart kids begging for sympathy. No “gifted” kid is saying the school system isn’t fair or that it’s rigged. And it’s not some excuse to brag over your elementary achievements (because how could that be “bragging”) or explain why things aren’t going perfectly in your life. Really, it just proves that our education system expects students to consistently be perfect — and all students are falling victim to it.

Being part of a group of people who feel exhausted from aiming for standards set all too high from a young age makes it clear there’s a problem in how the priorities of the education system are set up — even if that group is the fifty-four thousand teens commenting on a TikTok post. We’re constantly trying to achieve perfect grades, as they’re ingrained as the most important things in our minds.

This current fad of “gifted kid burnout” is a reflection of an education system valuing grades and results over real learning and understanding. Grades aren’t directly correlated with intelligence, and that shouldn’t be told to us from early on.

Students, regardless of how well they scored on a MAPS placement test, should be expected to learn and do their best — not to strive only for perfection. Whether the pressure is coming from teachers, family or society, it’s something we need to shift away from, and that starts in the classroom. 

But the light shed on this “burnout” isn’t necessarily exclusive to kids labeled as “gifted” from an early age. The struggle with school that too many students are experiencing can be rooted in the early association of students’ self-worth and grades — 100% means perfection, and anything less isn’t good enough. Separating students into “smart” or “not so smart” categories instantly make students feel either not good enough, or like perfection is the only valid option.

No one should feel less important because their most recent report card wasn’t strictly A+’s, and it’s up to schools to remember this, as well as us students. 

It’s not that gifted programs and pieces of this method are inherently bad. I loved my experience in EL. But seeing problems with common themes of low self-worth and fear of failure ingrained into our brains, we’re clearly missing a step. Students need resources to deal with anxiety and stress, along with other attributes like perfectionism and low confidence, that come in the classroom. With schools preaching the importance of maintaining perfect grades, they should be giving us tips to avoid feeling exhausted and overworked, and deal with the stress that comes with that status.

So regardless of whether the “gifted” label I received in third grade is a direct reason for my perfectionism, procrastination or stress level, it’s time for schools to shift their focus to ensuring that students don’t feel their grades are a direct reflection of their intelligence.