The Legend of the Pink Monkey

Some time ago, some behavioral psychologists were studying a tribe of monkeys and how they interacted with one another.  For some reason which only a behavioral psychologist could hope to understand, they dyed one of the monkeys pink and placed it back in the tribe.  The other monkeys attacked it so viciously that they had to race to its rescue before it was killed. 

We learn that being different is dangerous.  Most troubling perhaps is that as we all get more adept as we grow older at wearing our “brown monkey suits” to avoid being attacked. This means that we not only can’t really relate to the other brown monkeys, but we have a hard time identifying the other pink monkeys.

It seems that gifted kids are often not fated to have great crowds of friends, simply because there are so few of them.  It tends to be a lifelong issue that doesn’t end just because they have grown up.  But they will almost always develop a few deeply satisfying and fulfilling friendships that tend to endure through the years.

This legend is important to share with intellectually gifted children because they need to know that other pink monkeys do exist and eventually we do find each other.  Gifted programs help with that.  Pink monkeys are allowed the safety and freedom to wear their pink monkey suits (whether it is pastel pink or hot pink) and be with a tribe of other similarly hued beings.  How wonderful!!!!

---adapted from the website www.hoagies.comby Nancy Vogler