Elliott Tanner entered university at 9. Today he is 18 and pursuing a doctorate in physics at the University of Minnesota.
His mother, Michelle, says that in kindergarten he was already solving fourth-grade math problems, and going to school became a struggle because he didn’t fit in. By 8, he had finished high school; at 13, he graduated with a degree in physics; and at 15, he completed a master’s degree.
Now she responds to those who say her son missed out on childhood. She says they never pressured him, that he could always stop if he wanted to, and that he was the one driving it: “We’re not pushing, he’s pulling us along”, she told CBS News.
For his critics, no degree can make up for the years of play that can never be recovered. Did his parents pave the way he needed, or did they rush him through a stage that won’t come again?