Bill Gates, the worlds richest man. is a geek.
So are characters in popular movies:
Harry Potter.
Neo – from The Matrix.
And Frodo, from Lord Of The Tings.
Geeks, it seems, are everywhere.
“Yea it has become mainstream,” says 17-year-old Meng Huang. a regional finalist in this years Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science & Technology.
18-year-old Leah Hawkins figures she probably qualifies as a geek. She’s a science fair finalist, with a study of the interactions between chemical compounds.
She says kids interested in computers, science and math. no longer have to hide their passion.
“My friends at home who I thought might be like ‘oh Leah that’s so nerdy’, or ‘you’re such a geek, why do you like to do research and go in the lab’, but I mean really they support me and think it’s a cool idea.”
17-year-old Ross Anderson adds, “A lot of people can just be cool. and still have these geek tendencies.”
The ‘geek’ label, once a source of shame. is now for some, a badge of honor. Experts say that’s crucial to a child’s self-esteem.
“To have something that they can be proud of, that they can really excel in. Which before was like hidden. It was like in the dark or something, they were kind of embarrassed about it,” says Gloria Meaux, Ph.D., a psychologist.
She says unfortunately, parents may still hold that old bias. that being a geek means something is wrong with a child. something that needs to be fixed .
“really, he’s on the ball here and this is his strength and you know to calm the parents anxieties about the child just being different,” says Dr. Meaux.
Bill Gates was “different”. and is now the richest man in the world.
“All the kids in school say what do you want to do when you grow up? ‘I want to be rich’. Well, the smart kids are going to be rich, they’re going to be successful. they’re going to be the leaders,” says Hawkins. |