@EnaLikesThis true, I got a little shocked when she screamed at them and said "how dare you"
I was like...what.🤨 where's the smart little one we knew??
sometimes the authors go too far when they make a child an intelligent one...but it is true that there are children who are intelligent whether in studying or in life...as long as they have the proper parents for it, then they can be very smart.
I think why you wouldn't normally see "smart" children is because I think a lot of parents don't tend to tell their children to be cautious around certain people that may harm them mentally or physically, a lot of the times "those people" don't target the children, rather, they target the parents, it could be as simple as just making rumors about them. another thing is telling them to be secretive and not telling other people about the family's private life, I think people who appreciate privacy are more likely to do that.
whether the parents encourage the child to learn more, the child can get into those things by themselves, and because they have "life-intelligence" (because the parents told them to be cautious, secretive, telling them not everyone is nice, telling them you might get harmed, telling them you should fight...etc), they would probably know that learning is important, and they wouldn't always have problems with telling who is dangerous and who's not, who's truthful and who's lying, who you should trust and who you shouldn't (especially if they've been in similar situations)....and yea things like that in a general way.
a lot of the times parents who tell their children like this aren't being targeted by a murderer or something, it's just a lot of the people they know aren't nice and would love to see you fall.
this is based on the knowledge I gained from real stories told by other people and things I've read and also real life situations....but anyways the people who become mature and smart from a young age get this intelligence and maturity form very different situations and very different perspectives... in general I believe it depends on everything around you, what you see, hear, read, eat, decide on, who you listen to and let's not forget the people around you and your situation of living.
personally I think Leslie is intelligent but she's not emotionally stable, which is to be expected, but possibly because of what's going to happen, she will have a better grip on her emotions in the future. hopefully.
