Jay has smashed at least three world records: as the youngest college graduate, the youngest formal college student, and the youngest student ever admitted to a college.
The Chinese boy, with an IQ of 199, entered Idaho's Boise State University when he was nine years and two months old, breaking a record of ten years and four months set by a British boy. He graduated from Boise State at 12.
Jay wrote another record when he was admitted to Stanford University's graduate school for advanced work in mathematics.
The boy, accompanied by his parents, a sister, and an infant brother, returned to ROC in August for a family reunion with his grandparents and other relatives.
He told local reporters that he had finished the summer courses at Stanford and found the studies easy, because he was not required to submit a report. His father, Luo Jung-hsiung, said Jay did not find them difficult because he had completed half of the required courses even before he was admitted to Stanford.
Jay is not as physically active as ordi¬nary kids. He does not much like outdoor activities. He prefers computer and video games. Nevertheless, on some occasions, he still behaves like any other kid.
A few days after his return, he and his family were invited to an informal dinner party by noted painter Chang Dai-chien. Jay finished off three big bowls of noodles, while his father could only complete one. The boy was fascinated by fish, cranes, and monkeys in the painter's gardens. He picked up a crane feather and pocketed it as a souvenir.
Chang Dai-chien's painting is world famous. When Jay's father flattered the painting master, calling him a national treasure, Chang lauded Jay as a national treasure. When Dai-chien was young, he could recite a 200-word poem inscribed on a Chinese painting after only one glance.
Dai-chien spoke to Jay slowly, telling him: Language and literature are the major elements uniting a people. China has been overrun, and the Chinese people have been ruled by foreigners several times, but no foreigner has succeeded in subjugating the language, the written language in particular. The elderly painter asked Luo Jung-hsiung to explain his words to Jay, who knows only a smattering of Chinese phrases.
When Jay and his parents were received by President Chiang Ching-kuo, the President also urged the prodigy's father to expose Jay more often to Chinese language and culture.
While the Luo's were in Taiwan, a local newspaper gathered outstanding educators for a discussion of education for gifted children. Luo Jung-hsiung presented his experiences at the meeting:
"We are proud of the boy but we also feel the burden of taking care of him.
"When his name was read at the commencement ceremony by the president of Boise State University, the entire body of students and faculty gave my son a standing ovation. That was the proudest moment in my life.
"Jay entered a kindergarten at 5. Before long, the teacher determined he should receive an IQ test. Though it was the first time the shy boy had faced a psychologist, he answered all the questions.
"The teachers advised him to continue at the kindergarten, but I followed Jay's wish to terminate his kindergarten experience.
"When he was a first grade pupil, the teacher immediately discovered that he was outstanding. She told me that in her 25 years of teaching, she had encountered only two such precocious pupils, and that Jay was smarter than the other one.
"Experts judged that Jay should be promoted to grade six. Since, the boy has been froghopping through his schooling years. At every stop in the 'hopping,' he has given an excellent performance. The school allowed Jay to attend classes freely. When he did not want to attend class, he would go to the library. In one term, Jay browsed through all the books in the library.
"At university, he was treated as a normal student and did all the class work. The professors did not give him special help; he finished the courses on his own."
The elder Luo disclosed that Jay's scholastic advance was indebted in part to a good neighbor - the agent of a large publishing house. Every day, a truck loaded with books was parked at the neighbor's door. Because the neighbor knew that Jay liked to read, he allowed the boy to go up on the truck, among the books, whenever he was free. Jay took advantage of the opportunity to absorb much knowledge.
Because his parents have cooperated closely with school authorities and educators, there has been no evident misstep in the whole course of Jay's education.
The elder Luo often went to school to meet with Jay's teachers, stirring the jealousy of his nine-year-old daughter. Luo explained to her that he and his wife cared for the three equally but, just because the elder brother was extraordinary, they treated him in an extraordinary way. The cute girl gradually accepted the explanation. And Jay gets along with his sister very well. He often plays with her, though he is mentally about 20 years more mature.
Jay Luo at graduation - smashing three world records (File photo)
It is true that the elder Luo takes special pride in his precocious son, but he has also made great sacrifices for Jay. Since Jay is now studying on the West Coast, the whole family has moved with him to a Stanford student dormitory.
Luo stressed that Jay's achievement today is mainly because he and his wife hewed educationally to the principle:
"Let him do what he likes." He advises, "Only when you allow your children to do what they like, will they develop their interests and do a better job."
He advises parents of all gifted children to stand up courageously to strive for good educational opportunities for them. Linked advice was offered to teachers too: Teachers, he said, must help parents to monitor the talents of their children so that these talents will not be wasted.
"Mostly, though, we love him, but never pressure him."
So does the father of the prodigy sum up his guiding principles for Jay's education.
"I have never really taken pains to arrange anything for Jay; nor have I retained a tutor or provided cram lessons for him. I leave him to do what he likes," he said.
When Jay is tired of studying, he is free to go swimming, skating, or to play ball.
"Don't watch TV unless you have done your homework." The father has never used this conditional approach with his son. What he has done is to save money from dining out and buying clothes to buy books, which he quietly stacks on Jay's desk.
Even days before Jay entered graduate school, the considerate father did not ask the boy when he might complete his graduate studies. Luo Jung-hsiung said, "If Jay said he did not want to continue his graduate work, I would not ask him to attend graduate school for another day."
From experience, he has learned that a child can do a good job only when he is interested in it.
"If you ask your kid to read an encyclopedia from page 10 to page 20, I am sure he will not do it well. But if you let him get in touch with the book naturally and find his own interest in it, he will read even more pages."
Over expectation of a child will lead to strain in his relations with his mother and father. And if the child cannot live up to the expectation, he will suffer from a sense of frustration. Too much frustration will make the child shy, and the fulfillment of his potential will be compromised.
Luo Jung-hsiung stressed that parents must not set expectations too high and must never force their child to fulfill their expectations.
Some parents exhaust their children by sending them to learn everything - calligraphy, arts, music, dancing - lest they not measure up to other parents in "treating" their children. This generates in the hearts of the children the feeling that they are only learning for their dads and moms - not a good way to cultivate a precocious child.
It is even more harmful for parents to force their children to pre-practice IQ tests in order to flaunt the results before the neighbors.
Luo Jung-hsiung said: "Every child has his own traits, requiring differing education. Parents should try to understand their children... and try to provide them with a good reading environment in which they can feel that studying is enjoyment, not an imposition."
Luo has never flaunted Jay's achievements before his friends. He and his wife have taken pains to give him a normal life, and free and natural opportunities for learning.
This policy was specially applauded by Professors Wu Wu-tien and Chien Mao-fa, who participated in the discussion. They said that Jay's balanced development is a credit to his parents' natural method of education.
According to a survey by the University of Washington, on the average only two children in a hundred have an IQ in excess of 130; 2.5 children in every thousand top an IQ of 150; one in ten thousand exceed 170; and one in every 100 thousand exceed 180. Although precocious children are really commonplace, few have been discovered. According to this calculation, the United States should have roughly 450-500 highly precocious children (over 170), and 129 super precocious school-age children. Jay be longs to a super-precocious category. There should be technically 45-50 highly precocious children and 13 super precocious children in the Republic of China.
According to Chang Wen-hua, head master of Hsimen Primary School in Taipei, there are a number of children whose IQ exceeds 170 studying in classes for gifted students in the Republic of China. But because of their rigid education, their talents cannot be remarkably enhanced. A gifted student is not always a "good" student. A good student is easy-going and can win high marks in examinations. Most serve as leaders in school organizations. They have friends as well as honor. A precocious student, a superbly-precocious student in particular, is more often than not solitary. If people expect too much of him, he will have to shoulder an additional psychological burden.
Luo Jung-hsiung agreed with Chang's view. He said people should not treat precocious children in a too particular way. They should try to understand such children and let them grow naturally. Parents should respect their precocious children.
"All children are gifts of God, so we must value them highly, gifted or ordinary," said Jay's father.