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It is very harmful due to the following reasons:

• There is a lot of pressure within the Asian community for Asian children to do well academically and this stereotype just intensifies the need to do well outside of the Asian community.

• If an Asian child is having difficulty at school then it is assumed they are being lazy. This needs to stop! Some Asian children have learning difficulties and instead of pinpointing the difficulties the Asian children are deemed as lazy because they are not living up to the “smart Asian” stereotype.

• If there is a sudden drop in the academic performance/ attendance of an Asian child at school then people say “they don’t care anymore” when in reality it may be due to personal issues/ depression/ anxiety/ anorexia and many other mental issues.

• If an Asian person does do well on an Exam, then their achievement is brushed off as “well you’re Asian so it’s normal”. This actually lowers self esteem and self worth, I can tell you this from personal experience.

• Ultimately, the “Asian kids are smart” stereotype hinders society from viewing Asian children as capable of having disabilities; as capable of having a mental illnesses: as capable of being an individual person rather than some foolish stereotype.

• It has a greater effect than some people think so think twice before you repeat it to another person.