We Gifted Kids "Turn to Heavy Metal"
I spent the 4th-8th grades in a gifted & talented program and so this article was of immediate interest to me:
"Heavy metal 'a comfort for the bright child'"
Intelligent teenagers often listen to heavy metal music to cope with the pressures associated with being talented, according to research.
The results of a study of more than 1,000 of the brightest five per cent of young people will come as relief to parents whose offspring, usually long-haired, are devotees of Iron Maiden, AC/DC and their musical descendants.
Researchers found that, far from being a sign of delinquency and poor academic ability, many adolescent "metalheads" are extremely bright and often use the music to help them deal with the stresses and strains of being gifted social outsiders.
Stuart Cadwallader, a psychologist at the University of Warwick, will present the findings at the British Psychological Society conference in York today.
He said: "There is a perception of gifted and talented students as being into classical music and spending a lot of time reading. I think that is an inaccurate stereotype. There is literature that links heavy metal to poor academic performance and delinquency but we found a group that contradicts that."
One element at play was that the bright kids "appreciated the complex and sometimes political themes of heavy metal music more than perhaps the average pop song." I can understand that. While I didn't get into heavy metal as a disaffected yet gifted youth, I did manage to fall in love with progressive rock. However, I had friends who listened to mostly classical music and we all spent a lot of time reading.
I think more research is needed and it looks like someone is stepping up to the plate: "Govt funds to help student's bogan research". Yeah, I didn't know what a "bogan" was either until I read the article.
With his steelcap boots, dark jeans and black t-shirt, Dave Snell doesn't look like your average PhD student.
But then, his PhD isn't exactly average either.
Titled The Everyday Life of Bogans: Identity and Community Among Heavy Metal Fans, Mr Snell's studies focus on the friendships and sense of community between fans of heavy metal music.
His research will include studying different types of dancing to heavy metal music - head banging and moshing - as well as the importance of tattoos and body piercing, he said.
A friend of mine wants grant money to "go to Ozzfest to study the human condition" so, if anyone out there is good at writing grant proposals, let me know and I'll pass your name along.
"Heavy metal 'a comfort for the bright child'"
Intelligent teenagers often listen to heavy metal music to cope with the pressures associated with being talented, according to research.
The results of a study of more than 1,000 of the brightest five per cent of young people will come as relief to parents whose offspring, usually long-haired, are devotees of Iron Maiden, AC/DC and their musical descendants.
Researchers found that, far from being a sign of delinquency and poor academic ability, many adolescent "metalheads" are extremely bright and often use the music to help them deal with the stresses and strains of being gifted social outsiders.
Stuart Cadwallader, a psychologist at the University of Warwick, will present the findings at the British Psychological Society conference in York today.
He said: "There is a perception of gifted and talented students as being into classical music and spending a lot of time reading. I think that is an inaccurate stereotype. There is literature that links heavy metal to poor academic performance and delinquency but we found a group that contradicts that."
One element at play was that the bright kids "appreciated the complex and sometimes political themes of heavy metal music more than perhaps the average pop song." I can understand that. While I didn't get into heavy metal as a disaffected yet gifted youth, I did manage to fall in love with progressive rock. However, I had friends who listened to mostly classical music and we all spent a lot of time reading.
I think more research is needed and it looks like someone is stepping up to the plate: "Govt funds to help student's bogan research". Yeah, I didn't know what a "bogan" was either until I read the article.
With his steelcap boots, dark jeans and black t-shirt, Dave Snell doesn't look like your average PhD student.
But then, his PhD isn't exactly average either.
Titled The Everyday Life of Bogans: Identity and Community Among Heavy Metal Fans, Mr Snell's studies focus on the friendships and sense of community between fans of heavy metal music.
His research will include studying different types of dancing to heavy metal music - head banging and moshing - as well as the importance of tattoos and body piercing, he said.
A friend of mine wants grant money to "go to Ozzfest to study the human condition" so, if anyone out there is good at writing grant proposals, let me know and I'll pass your name along.
posted by Palmer at 2:12 PM
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