TITLE: A Well-Meaning Headline Sends an Unfortunate Signal
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: March 28, 2011  8:14 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
Last week, the local newspaper ran an above-the-fold
<A HREF="http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/article_b87af2e0-562f-11e0-9381-001cc4c03286.html">
   front-page story</A>
about the regional Physics Olympics competition.
This is a wonderful public-service piece.  It extols
young local students who spend their extracurricular
time doing math and physics, and it includes a color
photo showing two students who are having fun.  If
you would like to see the profile of science and math
raised among the general public, you could hardly ask
for more.

Unless you read the headline:

<BLOCKQUOTE><STRONG>
Young Einsteins
</STRONG></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't want to disparage the newspaper's effort to
help the STEM cause, but the article's headline
undermines the very message it is trying to send.
Science isn't fun; it isn't for everyone; it is for
<B>brains</B>.  We're looking for smart kids.  Regular
people need not apply.

Am I being too sensitive?  No.  The headline sends a
subtle message to students and parents.  It sends an
especially dangerous signal to young women and
minorities.  When they see a message that says,
"Science kids are brainiacs", they are more likely
than other kids to think, "They don't mean me. I don't
belong."

I don't want anyone to mislead people about the study
of science, math, and CS.  They are not the easiest
subjects to study.  Most of us can't sleep through
class, skip homework, and succeed in these courses.
But discipline and persistence are more important
ingredients to success than native intelligence,
especially over the long term.  Sometimes, when
science and math come too easily to students early in
their studies, they encounter difficulties later.
Some come to count on "getting it" quickly and, when
it no longer comes easily, they lose heart or interest.
Others skate by for a while because they don't have to
practice and, when it no longer comes easily, they
haven't developed the work habits needed to get over
the hump.

If you like science and math enough to work at them,
you will succeed, whether you are an Einstein or not.
You might even do work that is important enough to
<A HREF="http://www.seattlepi.com/local/42014_hartwell09.shtml">
   earn a Nobel Prize</A>.
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