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At first glance, they look like perfectly ordinary first-graders scribbling feverishly on the blackboard, but there is something striking about the boy's deep blue eyes that suggests a maturity well beyond his years. Jake's in advanced classes and already reading at a third-grade level. Jan is the quiet one, but has a presence that immediately draws attention. Her predilection is toward art, though at the moment she is choosing to write math equations on the board, erasing them as soon as she's completed each of her computations.

Jake's mother is a teacher at this Baytown-area school, and worries that he may be ostracized by his peers if word ever gets out about his special gifts. "He questions everything because he wants to know," she says as her son draws a picture of a lollipop tree. "The questions he asks are not even age-appropriate."

These children tend to know things without ever being taught or told. Jake's companion Jan "can use a compound bow very well," says the girl's grandmother, Jill Spence. "She can shoot a BB gun; she goes fishing." It just came naturally to her, Spence says. She can't explain it.

They go by many names, such as Star Kids, Indigos or Crystalline Children. Whatever they're called, believers say this group of prodigies started appearing about 30 years ago and may now make up as much as 90 percent of the population under ten. They also exhibit strange side effects, like a higher resistance to pollutants but an increased sensitivity to sugar and food additives. These are babies born with an inherent knowledge of art, language and spirituality, possessing an impressive wealth of wisdom. Some will even go so far as to say these kids are not only prime candidates for the gifted and talented program, but the next step in human evolution.

Parents and those who study these children have been asking themselves why here? Why now? Theories about their origins range from spirits entering from other planes and dimensions to chosen ones delivered from heaven. Some even suggest aliens have been abducting and manipulating the DNA of these children and their parents to prepare us for when they make their presence known. The one thing all these groups do agree on is that the kids are out there, and they're coming to teach us a lesson.

The term Indigo Child was coined 17 years ago by Nancy Ann Tappe, a parapsychologist who developed a system for classifying people's personalities according to the hue of their auras, described in her 1982 book, Understanding Your Life Through Colors. According to her, auras have been entering and exiting Earth throughout history. For example, aura colors such as fuchsia and magenta disappeared from the gene pool 100 years ago (though she was recently shocked to find a fuchsia living in Palm Springs). It stood to reason that a new life color was about to make an appearance.

Tappe was unable to find the new color scheme until a baby was born with a heart murmur at a children's hospital in San Diego whom she recognized as being dark blue. The child died six weeks later, but more and more indigo-colored personalities began to appear in the '80s, and their numbers were clearly rising.

But it was the 1999 book The Indigo Children, by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober, that popularized the idea of the next generation. Carroll was an economics major who ran a technical audio business for 30 years until a visit to a psychic prompted a New Age midlife crisis. He found religion and started traveling around the world giving "self-help" seminars. Accompanying him was Tober, a practitioner of metaphysics and hands-on healing as well as a jazz singer who had toured with Benny Goodman and Fred Astaire. The genesis of the book came when they began noticing similar accounts of strange behavior in children from teachers, counselors and psychologists who attended their seminars. As they began to look into these occurrences, they found kids were indeed being born with an "unusual set of psychological attributes" and displaying "a pattern of behavior generally undocumented before." Using a collection of essays and interviews from experts in the field -- mostly counselors working in such New Age areas as Angel Therapy and alternative medicines -- the book focuses on raising an Indigo Child. Some of the main attributes they describe are a sense of "deserving to be here" and "knowing who they are," difficulty with authority, a dislike of activities that don't require creative thought and a feeling of royalty (and acting like it).

The peculiarities of Jake and Jan (their families asked that their real names not be used) were apparent from an early age. As a toddler, Jan sometimes spoke using her own language. Instead of "cookie," she would say "cookah" and refused to call a sandwich anything but a "phonic." Odder still, she didn't begin speaking until she was three years old. For Jake's part, he had trouble grasping the concept that he was not in charge. "He has to be told," Jake's mother says. "He doesn't think he needs permission." Spence noticed a similar idiosyncrasy in her granddaughter. "You have to coax her to do her homework," she says.

As proof of Jan's exceptional talent, her grandmother pulls out an example of her artwork, a crayon drawing of a rainbow, stick family and M-shaped birds flying in the sky. "Most all of her pictures are rainbows," Spence says, noticing a theme running throughout her work. She feels that must have something to do with Jan's ability to see auras. She also points out the plant Jan drew with watermelons, pears and other fruit growing on it. "God told her that was how plants were going to grow."

Write Your Comment show comments (9)

  1. It's called ADHD and bad parenting, people. Get a grip. Your kids aren't "special" because they draw rainbows and don't like to do their homework. And I love the kids saying "I know I'm an Indigo because my mommy told me so." These parents can't stand the fact that their kids are perfectly normal, so they make up these crap stories to make themselves feel better!

    Comment by Jesse — November 20, 2007 @ 10:15PM

  2. There is no need for hostility. You could have made your point in a manner that was more polite and then others might be more receptive to your opinion.

    I've been reading in to all of what is being discussed because i am facing the fact that my daughter's teacher suggests that i consider medicating her. She's only 5 and I feel entitled to educate myself before making such a decision.

    The "indigo" book was a wonderful book with so much helpful information AS IS the book Driven to Distraction. I believe my daughter is definitely hyperactive and difficult compared to many other children. I also understand what some of these parents are saying about their children not wanting to conform and learn in the traditional way. My daughter knows the alphabet and how to sound out many words and i think her frustrations are in the way the class is structured. She KNOWS that in due time she's going to learn to write and read, but she wants more stimulating education. Her little soul craves to learn things like "why is water different colors?" "Why does the pumpkin make a different noise when you knock on it compared to something solid?"

    Anyways, i can go on for hours about this issue. One last thing i'd like to point out is that nobody is saying their kid is more special than others; it's more that ALL kids are special AND DIFFERENT in their learning abilities and they need to be given more credit than to just stuff them in a traditional style classroom and go about our adult lives without much respect for these little being that will soon be in our shoes - running this place called earth. Simple. Think about it. They really ARE the future..treat them well, and let them lead the way.

    Comment by April Tabor — November 25, 2007 @ 08:49AM

  3. There is no need for hostility. You could have made your point in a manner that was more polite and then others might be more receptive to your opinion.

    I've been reading in to all of what is being discussed because i am facing the fact that my daughter's teacher suggests that i consider medicating her. She's only 5 and I feel entitled to educate myself before making such a decision.

    The "indigo" book was a wonderful book with so much helpful information AS IS the book Driven to Distraction. I believe my daughter is definitely hyperactive and difficult compared to many other children. I also understand what some of these parents are saying about their children not wanting to conform and learn in the traditional way. My daughter knows the alphabet and how to sound out many words and i think her frustrations are in the way the class is structured. She KNOWS that in due time she's going to learn to write and read, but she wants more stimulating education. Her little soul craves to learn things like "why is water different colors?" "Why does the pumpkin make a different noise when you knock on it compared to something solid?"

    Anyways, i can go on for hours about this issue. One last thing i'd like to point out is that nobody is saying their kid is more special than others; it's more that ALL kids are special AND DIFFERENT in their learning abilities and they need to be given more credit than to just stuff them in a traditional style classroom and go about our adult lives without much respect for these little being that will soon be in our shoes - running this place called earth. Simple. Think about it. They really ARE the future..treat them well, and let them lead the way.

    Comment by April Tabor — November 25, 2007 @ 08:50AM

  4. There is no need for hostility. You could have made your point in a manner that was more polite and then others might be more receptive to your opinion.

    I've been reading in to all of what is being discussed because i am facing the fact that my daughter's teacher suggests that i consider medicating her. She's only 5 and I feel entitled to educate myself before making such a decision.

    The "indigo" book was a wonderful book with so much helpful information AS IS the book Driven to Distraction. I believe my daughter is definitely hyperactive and difficult compared to many other children. I also understand what some of these parents are saying about their children not wanting to conform and learn in the traditional way. My daughter knows the alphabet and how to sound out many words and i think her frustrations are in the way the class is structured. She KNOWS that in due time she's going to learn to write and read, but she wants more stimulating education. Her little soul craves to learn things like "why is water different colors?" "Why does the pumpkin make a different noise when you knock on it compared to something solid?"

    Anyways, i can go on for hours about this issue. One last thing i'd like to point out is that nobody is saying their kid is more special than others; it's more that ALL kids are special AND DIFFERENT in their learning abilities and they need to be given more credit than to just stuff them in a traditional style classroom and go about our adult lives without much respect for these little being that will soon be in our shoes - running this place called earth. Simple. Think about it. They really ARE the future..treat them well, and let them lead the way.

    Comment by April Tabor — November 25, 2007 @ 08:51AM

  5. There is no need for hostility. You could have made your point in a manner that was more polite and then others might be more receptive to your opinion.

    I've been reading in to all of what is being discussed because i am facing the fact that my daughter's teacher suggests that i consider medicating her. She's only 5 and I feel entitled to educate myself before making such a decision.

    The "indigo" book was a wonderful book with so much helpful information AS IS the book Driven to Distraction. I believe my daughter is definitely hyperactive and difficult compared to many other children. I also understand what some of these parents are saying about their children not wanting to conform and learn in the traditional way. My daughter knows the alphabet and how to sound out many words and i think her frustrations are in the way the class is structured. She KNOWS that in due time she's going to learn to write and read, but she wants more stimulating education. Her little soul craves to learn things like "why is water different colors?" "Why does the pumpkin make a different noise when you knock on it compared to something solid?"

    Anyways, i can go on for hours about this issue. One last thing i'd like to point out is that nobody is saying their kid is more special than others; it's more that ALL kids are special AND DIFFERENT in their learning abilities and they need to be given more credit than to just stuff them in a traditional style classroom and go about our adult lives without much respect for these little being that will soon be in our shoes - running this place called earth. Simple. Think about it. They really ARE the future..treat them well, and let them lead the way.

    Comment by April Tabor — November 25, 2007 @ 08:52AM

  6. There is no need for hostility. You could have made your point in a manner that was more polite and then others might be more receptive to your opinion.

    I've been reading in to all of what is being discussed because i am facing the fact that my daughter's teacher suggests that i consider medicating her. She's only 5 and I feel entitled to educate myself before making such a decision.

    The "indigo" book was a wonderful book with so much helpful information AS IS the book Driven to Distraction. I believe my daughter is definitely hyperactive and difficult compared to many other children. I also understand what some of these parents are saying about their children not wanting to conform and learn in the traditional way. My daughter knows the alphabet and how to sound out many words and i think her frustrations are in the way the class is structured. She KNOWS that in due time she's going to learn to write and read, but she wants more stimulating education. Her little soul craves to learn things like "why is water different colors?" "Why does the pumpkin make a different noise when you knock on it compared to something solid?"

    Anyways, i can go on for hours about this issue. One last thing i'd like to point out is that nobody is saying their kid is more special than others; it's more that ALL kids are special AND DIFFERENT in their learning abilities and they need to be given more credit than to just stuff them in a traditional style classroom and go about our adult lives without much respect for these little being that will soon be in our shoes - running this place called earth. Simple. Think about it. They really ARE the future..treat them well, and let them lead the way.

    Comment by April Tabor — November 25, 2007 @ 08:57AM

  7. I feel sorry for these children because their parents are enabling them to be disfunctional members of society. Your children aren't special, they're brats and you need to beat them more. All children like drawing rainbows, hate doing their homework, and think the world revolves around them. The only difference between your child and the next one is that the other child's parent makes them be responsible members of society who respect other people.

    I especially feel sorry for the kid, Jake, mentioned in the story. He's doomed. He's probably going to suffer from depression because his mother utterly ruined his life: Brahm quoted and this applies, 'They do not agree with the way society runs things. They think we're kind of stupid, that we've screwed things up.'"

    To Jake's mother: You are stupid, you're screwing things up by telling your children that they're aliens, and telling your friends that your child is an alien, and telling your child's friends that he's an alien, and telling your child's friends parents that he's an alien.

    Indigo Children, psychic powers, furries, ass-burgers... people need to stop creating excuses for themselves and start facing reality. Your kid will never fit in and never be happy if they aren't raised properly and given the tools to cope with society - and those tools do not include enabling them to think they're something they aren't and that they're above the fundamental expectations of our culture (do well in school, don't abuse drugs, don't screw off in your job, listen and obey people who know more about stuff than you do) - so that they don't end up working at a bottom end job all their life thinking they're a Vulcan who is too good to get a college degree or persue a real carrer.

    Comment by s_e_h — December 3, 2007 @ 05:46PM

  8. Ok, then I`m an alien-ated adult:-) since I can remember I feel & think like those kids. What is wrong with kids who think that we screwed up this world? Look around you!
    Now, age 36, I still refuse to agree to the logic of our social, economic and political systems, although for outside world it seems that I`m adapted and perfectly functioning member of this society..Reading 6 writing since I was 4, straight "A" student, masters in business, living my life in (what I call) outside world...But there is my/our microcosmos with other rules.. And they collide, more often then I would like to, especially when it comes to fairness, dicrimination etc... I just canīt help myself, because it is stronger then me. With my intelligence & capabilities I could have gone far and beyond my professional achievments , but I would have to negate system of values that I was born with.. You could call me asocial, psychotic or even crazy, but I KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT.
    I donīt believe in any of those esoteric explantions, no alien, aura etc crap. The fact is that our system of values is not working for everybody and maybe we should all listen to hypersensitive people and learn from them.

    Comment by Mirna — December 6, 2007 @ 05:34AM

  9. While I could have been more polite, my statement could not have been any more clear.
    This article outlines some very misguided parents who are emotionally abusing their chldren, and it is repugnant.

    By all listed characteristics, *I* would be considered to have been an "idigo child" - except my parents (though I hated it at the time) didn't cater to me, pet me, and tell me how "special" I was and how I was so "different". Consequently, I fully recognize that thinking differently than most people and being "gifted" doesn't make me any better than any other human being on the planet. (Despite what I would like to believe.)

    These parents should undergo psychological testing to determine their fitness to raise children.

    I don't care how "hostile" I sound, I am speaking the truth. Sometimes the facts hurt.

    Comment by Jesse — April 11, 2008 @ 07:02AM

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