I said "milk", or was that 'Bilk'

The elepant (sic) could offer sager analysis than that abysmal post. I suppose you want same-sex schools and racial/religious segregation too (so as to avoid people of different backgrounds, gender and abilities ever getting to know and accept each other)?

Oh dear. I suppose swimmers don't need advice, training and practice, perhaps also drugs, to slice through the water like barracudas? Virtuoso violinists don't need to even possess a violin or be taught which string is which?

I don't bridle at the term "education industry" since sadly it is more true than ever, but no-one can possibly think that a postal clerk could turn out to an Einstein. It's about maximising each child's potential.

Actually, for the most part, it's down to the parent's level of education (and wealth). Or, as Vonnegut put it: So it goes.

In addition I'm gobsmacked that folk who've spent their life and child rearing years in Canada could bring themselves to defend selective education systems at all.

The point I was making about social persecution of bright kids is exemplified by this post.

I made no comment concerning racial, religious, financial or sexual discrimination, concentrating only on academic achievement and the anti-social issues that can arise between the bright and the not-so-bright.

Apparently there are some among us who, when they find opinion sharing difficult, simply adopt a position of criticism for those that can.

No, it's not

No, I did, as you seem to recommend the segregation of the "bright" from the "not so bright" so why not segregate the rest too? I'd also like a further clarification of your understanding of "bright".


So "not-so-bright" then?

I think you'll find that type of attitude, if it was ever prevalent, doesn't exist to any extent today. The issue is that in nearly all tests of mental agility, most human’s fall within a very narrow band on the spectrum. There are outliers of course, both above and below normal, and for these children most schools and school districts offer programs of support and enrichment. The problem one finds is that most parents think their children are talented and gifted and thus should be offered those services, unfortunately, from an academic perspective, they usually aren’t and if a weak administrator allows them access they most often struggle with the pace and content of the program.

Apparently.
If you read my post carefully, you'd have realised that it was concerned with aspects of unwanted peer pressure. It made no comment about how kids were treated by administrators or parents.
Incidents of bullying and coercion occur for many reasons, among them must be the isolation of some who don't fit into the academic norm.

Deplorably, many children are still subject of bullying, in my experience its rarely becasue they are good students.

I wasn't a good student, and I was bullied like no tomorrow, schools can be very evil places for those who don't fit in and become the target of bullies, and sometimes more then one.

Where are you now?

Retired Chemical Engineer, poor chess player, mediocre scale model ship builder, reasonable DIY and home brew drunk living in BC.

It all sounds good.

Was your success as a result of your 'Grammar school' education?

Would you have been as successful if you had not gone to Grammar school, if not - could you picture what may have turned out?

Do you believe that Grammar educated children are more succesful than those that never went to one?

Are Grammar school educated snobs?

Outside of the money - In Canada is the secondary education system better than what is available in the UK to allow children to go to college or university?

Our two went through the Ontario system, both graduated high school with grade 13 honours diploma. Imagine, 13 years of schooling just to get a place in university. And still, some will say that their grade 13 was not as good as an A- level from the UK - well my wife says that.

I don't know about other provinces, in the Ontario system its now 12 years total, with streamed general & U subjects from grade 10 -grade 12. The U 's are similar to the old O's & A's in the UK


.

It depends on your definition of 'better'.

Well I did say *mostly*.

Yes, a young violinist would need to be taught some discipline to practice enough and power through particularly difficult passages. A swimmer could be taught an exercise regimen to maximize his or her stamina.

But natural talent (and in the case of athletes, body shape) does the heavy lifting by an overwhelming margin, the luck of the draw we all carry in our DNA, and I believe much of the research supports this view.

If this sounds defeatist, note that I do believe that everyone has some sort of natural talent through which a livelihood can be built. Perhaps the education industry can make itself useful by focusing its efforts on helping kids figure out those tasks of which they are exceptionally adept.