Nerds by David Anderegg, Ph.D.

One of the things that makes kids kids is their lack of self-consciousness, and one of the things that most distinguishes nerdy kids from non nerdy kids is exactly this quality, as we shall see later on.


Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them was written by David Anderegg, Ph.D., a child psychologist who was upset by the marginalization of "nerdy" kids and chose to do a study on what constitutes a nerd and why there is such a stigmatism associated with that particular stereotype.

This book was incredibly interesting. I love doing research on the topic of nerd stereotypes and especially enjoy the fact that researching nerd stereotypes is a quintessentially nerdy thing to do. Anderegg covers everything from the treatment of those considered nerds in elementary school vs. nerds in high school to  the tendency of the overzealous to incorrectly diagnose nerds with Aspergers without knowing what it actually means.

I didn't agree with everything Aderegg had to say, but most of it was both insightful and made you really take a step back and think about the way we condition our children through media and careless comments that we honestly ought to know better than to do. I know I was convicted about the way I use "nerd" as an insult at times, even though I mean it as a joke. I don't personally consider it an insult, but by using it as such, I perpetuate the negative connotation associated with the word and that's really not okay.

Overall, this was a wonderful book and I will very likely be reading it again in the next few years. I really enjoyed it and everything Anderegg had to say on the matter. I would suggest this to nearly everyone, but particularly parents of all types. Whether your kid is naturally popular or starting to operate under the label of nerd, you probably need to hear what this book has to say.

Lastly, no matter who you are--don't forget to own your nerdiness! Don't let anyone tell you who to be. You are amazing just the way you are. Nerds are awesome and we need more of them!

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As we have seen, the nerd/geek stereotype is not immediately comprehensible to our kids, and they need a fair amount of indoctrination to get it at all. But when they begin to be indoctrinated, they get messages that are awfully confusing.