Wikipedia:Prodigy

This is an essay on the Biographies of living persons policy.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

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WP:PRODIGY

Wikipedia's coverage of child prodigies and, more broadly, talented minors, is a sensitive topic that requires care. As with any biography of living persons, standalone articles about children must only be written if there are multiple, independent, reliable sources devoted to the subject. Unfortunately, in the case of prodigious children, the media has often been guilty of promoting a sensationalist bent to stories devoted to them, sometimes making it appear as though the child is more prodigious than what is recognized by relevant experts and high-quality sources. This has extended on more than one occasion to even first-rate media publications that are otherwise beyond reproach. For that reason, extreme care should be exercised when deciding whether an article on a child prodigy is warranted. When in doubt, erring on the side of exclusion is preferable in consideration of the issues that can include undue promotionalism and/or the possibility of causing harm to the subject. To that end, care should be taken not to confuse slow news day stories or personal interest fluff pieces that lack editorial care as indicating notability.

Prodigious children

Several sources define prodigies as "a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain to the level of an adult expert performer." A similar standard of performance is to be expected of notable teens and pre-teens. Identifying children who have actually produced a widely recognized, notable adult-level of performance should be done by experts in the relevant area. Therefore:

Students are not notable prodigies for their performance as students, no matter how advanced they are in their work.
Child actors are subject to the same notability rules for actors as adults.
Child musicians are subject to the same notability rules for musicians as adults.
Prodigious children who demonstrate skill in mathematics or science are expected to have published works on a par with their notable adult academic peers.
Performances and feats of athletic prowess which do not achieve lasting national/international notice are not sufficient grounds for inclusion.

Care to be taken

It is important to escape the publicity cycle. Without extensive serious coverage by a relevant epistemic community, Wikipedia is not the place to document prodigies who show the promise of being "the next Einstein" merely on the basis of the say-so of various individuals. Beware of sources which laud overachieving children for their potential or for reaching ordinary if precocious marks of progress (e.g., going to college at an early age). It is impossible to know whether such children will live up to the hype, and since their articles are generally biographies of living people, it is unfair to document the misguided and sometimes overstated claims may have been made in the media or by adults promoting the child. If the child is truly a prodigy, their accomplishments will become unmistakeable in due time. It is not Wikipedia's place to try to figure out who will be successful and who might not. In the past, it was too common to find sensationalized news stories purporting to document amazing feats by minors which were, upon careful consideration, found to be based on nothing more than hearsay and speculation.

Relevant discussions

Wikipedia has had a number of relevant discussions about the notability of various prodigies. Included here are a few of the more recent ones: