[Weekender] TV depicts life of and around ‘child prodigy‘

A toddler, a little over 2-years-old, waddles in front of the camera and onlookers to look for a Chinese character on the screen. Still in diapers, the boy identifies the word.

The screen changes to flash “I touch my eye” in English, which 27-month-old I-jun also reads out.

The scene is from the 37th episode of “Finding Genius” from local broadcaster SBS, a weekly show dedicated to shining a spotlight on children with unusual talents or skills.

In Korea, the word “gifted” or “prodigy” had often been linked with a child’s academic prowess.

The program, however, diverges from the widely-spread perspective of “the gifted” to feature children excelling in various fields, including Korean traditional music (“gugak”), martial arts, chess and Asian traditional board game of “baduk,” or go.

Kim Jae-won, a producer of the show, said the program initially was designed to show off the best young talents in each fields and sharing their know-hows.

Gradually, however, he said he grew to realize that each parents had their own problems in raising “gifted” children, and that there was more to education than sharing the know-hows.

“I believe that (our show) gives parents an opportunity to reflect upon their method of raising and educating children,” he said in a media interview.

For this, the program offers a glimpse of the dark side of being raised as a child prodigy in Korea.

A story of 10-year-old Pyo Ji-hun, who entertained viewers with his merry gugak tunes, divulged that talent and high expectations came with a certain amount of pressure, particularly from his parents.

“How long do you think they’ll call you a genius?” said her mother while nagging him to practice, after which the boy told producers that he wanted to die because the work was too much.

Even after the mother-son confrontation was alleviated, Ji-hun still said that his favorite time with his mother was “their time apart,” to bitter, knowing laughter of the audience.

While the program had seemingly embraced the idea that children with non-academic talents -- such as cup-stacking expert Choi Hyeon-jong -- can be considered “gifted,” it remained confined to the perception that studying was the most desirable route for students.

The “Finding Genius” team, after proving that Hyeon-jong had potential to do well in school, suggested that his parents could apply his cup-stacking talents academically.

Citizens Coalition for Democratic Media, a local civic group that monitors TV programs, pointed out that these “solutions” hint at the inherent limitations of the program.

“The program had clearly attempted to demonstrate different perspective of the gifted children, but it also showed limitations in trying to fit them to an existing frame of school work and completion,” it said. “If the program truly wishes to differentiate itself from the preexisting programs for the gifted, it should attempt to change the society’s narrow-minded views of calibrating the talents only in academic achievement, success and recognition.”

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)