Why is it that some families seem to or claim to have one smart child and one dumb child if biological?

Question

sibblings rarely have IQs more than 10 points apart?

Answer 1

First off, there is no such thing as a dumb child. Now a child that acts in a dumb fashion, that's another story. The best thing I can do is describe my children. My eldest boy is so intelligent (and I am not saying this just because I am mom, the school has determined to test his IQ) that he gets A's w/o even thinking about it. I stated "gets" as to earns because that is the case. He does nothing for them, he does not study nor does he do homework. He simply attends class and obsorbs the information by simply being in attendance.
My second eldest is intelligent and diligent, a truly amazing combination. He earns A's and B's not only because he is taught material but also because he does research. At the age of 8 he wanted to know what nos was (I know I have probably spelled that wrong so I will write it out, nitrous oxide) and how it had an affect on cars.
My youngest one is also a very intelligent and diligent young man but not as hard working as his brother. He earns A's and B's as well but does not go beyond what is required of him.
Now, back to the smart child and the dumb child. My eldest may very well have the highest IQ of the lot but I would not say he is my smartest one. Just because a child or even an adult may have a tremendous IQ does not make them smart. My eldest is wasting an tremendous talent by doing nothing with it while my younger two embrace it. I would not call my eldest one dumb but I would say he was behaving so. When a parent sees this occurence they need to find a way to work with it, not put the child down.

Answer 2

Reading over the responses the only one I would have given a negative rating to is askaway. The other two who answered made valid points.
The first being that not all parents acknowledge the facts that just because the child does not excel at what they (the parents) do makes an impression on the parent. Mind you, that is not acceptable behavior but you were not asking for responsible behaviors.
The other is that this other person stated that she believes all her children are intelligent just that the oldest one acts "dumb" by letting his natural talents go to waste.
Who ever gave these two negative ratings was probably considered a "dumb" child growing up and now has self-esteem issues.

Answer 3

Different people have different kinds of intelligence and ability. Depending on what kind of smarts the family values, the child who has it will be considered the "smart one." So if one kid is good at math and the parents come from a math background, they'll act like that kid is the smartest. Maybe the other kid is good at reading people and figuring out their motivations, or good at art or history or something that is a talent but not necessarily something that is valued in school. That kid may get Cs in school but still have another kind of mental ability that gets overlooked.

Answer 4

i have 2 kids and i would never say that one of them was 'dumb'.....i refer to them as saying that one may be a little brighter than the other in certain areas.....but i would never say they are 'dumb'.......i dont know any friends that would refer to their child as 'dumb' either....so if parents do call their child 'dumb' then i would suggest that the only 'dumb' person would be the parent that suggests it........