IT is hard to say what good parenting is.
Everyone has a different style and approach to, hopefully, produce well-rounded and loved individuals.
As a mother myself I have been thinking about this issue a lot since catching up on the first two episodes of the latest series of Channel 4’s Child Genius.
Now in its fourth series, its popularity has meant the MENSA run competition has been given a bit of a make-over and the bookish chap who read out the questions has been replaced by quiz royalty Richard Osman, himself a MENSA member.
Even he looks incredulous at the abilities of the competitors.
There is no doubt the youngsters featured in the finals are extremely bright.
The average age is about 11 but their intellect and knowledge means they could easily hold their own on University Challenge.
But it has become clear over the first two instalments natural talent has to be honed and coached if they want to win the right to call themselves Britain’s Child Genius.
It means putting away the football and X-Box and spending evenings practising mental arithmetic and mentally logging information that will probably only be useful whilst standing at the lectern facing the impossibly tall Richard.
The children who had very IQs, but were not endlessly quizzed by their parents or willingly revising, only made it through the first couple of rounds.
As did the girl who had a photographic memory but failed at general knowledge because the only revision time she had was the car journeys between ice skating practise.
Then there are the ones coached tirelessly by parents who want to live vicarously through them.
Just one young man put himself forward for the competition, with only the love and support of his bemused mum and dad.
I personally think this is how it should be and, for this reason, hope he wins.