Clementine Not So Smart?

edited July 2012 in The Walking Dead
I found it funny that in the beginning of the game, Clementine tells us that she is eight years old, but later (on the farm), she mentions she is in first grade. Guess she's not too bright because most first graders are six, and a few are seven. She must have been held back.
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Comments

  • edited April 2012
    Hey! No pickin' on my girl! She's smart and no one can convince me different! :p
  • edited April 2012
    its not uncommon for parents to start their kids late for different reasons..
    My wife and I started my son late because he was so tiny.. and now he is a full year older then all his classmates... (still smaller than them too even with him being a year older)

    That said he WAS still just 7 when he was a first grader... While I am talking about my kid.. he just tested in the top 10% in our state for reading and math.. and our state has the second highest scores in the country.. so my 3rd grader is probably smarter than I am LOL.... so proud.
  • edited April 2012
    They're just discussing 1st grade. It's never explicitly stated that that's what grade she's in. I'd even say that they make it pretty clear that she's passed that grade as she's asked how it was and not is.
  • edited April 2012
    "You've learned that clemenite is a 1st grader."
  • edited April 2012
    Huh. The UI says that? I have that setting turned off.
  • edited April 2012
    tobar wrote: »
    Huh. The UI says that? I have that setting turned off.

    Did one playthrought with that off and another with Ui on and yea it popped up
  • edited April 2012
    Don't pick on Clementine. She survived for days off of a walkie-talkie and and a tea-set, that makes her smart in my book!
  • edited April 2012
    Clementine is the smartest one in the group! If anyone tries to mess with her, they are dead!
  • edited April 2012
    I found that odd too. Whatever reason Clementine was held back it's not because she wasn't smart enough. She even says that first grade is too easy.

    I think she was adopted. She doen't look like her parents at all. Maybe she wasn't put in a good school until the Marshes got her?
  • edited April 2012
    Clementine is the oldest 1st grader in Georgia state history.

    Actually she was kicked out of school 2 years ago and is now homeschooled, after repeatedly hitting other kids with a hammer.

    She still tells people she is in first grade though
  • edited May 2012
    I think she is smart and has been advanced through the school system but is to small to go to high school so she was helping out in first grade and not wishing to boast she tell people that she is in first grade
  • CapnJayCapnJay Banned
    edited May 2012
    She might not know interstellar fusion but Clementine has got Street Smarts and a Magnificent Fro. and Nobody insults her...... *Looks at other posts* so... i'm not the only one who feels overly protective of her?
  • edited May 2012
    In my country the reason most kids get held back in first grade is if they have too much energy left at the end of the year. Most kids energy slowly goes down over the years but if that hasn't gone down enough they hold the kid back so it will be on the same energy level (and thus won't annoy an entire class).

    That being said, Clementine actually does seem smart. (figuring out very quickly that the zombies can't climb, managing to survive for a few days by herself, saying first grade is easy, figuring out that the cane would probably be able to hold the door etc. etc.) So that can't be the reason. She also didn't strike me as a child that could be very energetic in class so that can't be the reason either. Maybe her parents moved around a lot?
  • JakeJake Telltale Alumni
    edited May 2012
    I was 8 for the end of first grade, and it was just because I was born on the cusp of when kids were in which grade. I was one of the older kids in my class but my parents preferred that over me being one of the youngest kids in the class.

    *I might be off by a year and lying to you right now, though.
  • edited May 2012
    I was eight in first grade- I was held back in prsechool due to being blind.

    Last time I checked, I didn't think I was an idiot. Verification?
  • edited May 2012
    I was eight in first grade- I was held back in prsechool due to being blind.

    Last time I checked, I didn't think I was an idiot. Verification?

    Verified.

    Some cultures "count their years". For those in Computer Science, they know what I mean.

    'We' as North Americans tend to say a person who was born 13 years ago is 13 (years old), but some cultures would say they are 14 because they are in their 14th year. Maybe Clementine is asian. That or the developers messed up.
  • edited May 2012
    Maybe when her parents went away they told her she couldn't come with
    them because she was too young,and when she met Lee she didn't want to
    be left alone,so she lied about her age or it could be what Jake said.
  • edited May 2012
    Spoilers:
    She's not the real Clementine, she's a psychopathic midget (that's why she speaks in an adult's voice) who murdered Clementine and her family and took their house for herself right before the zombie apocalypse started. Lee had better watch himself.
  • CapnJayCapnJay Banned
    edited May 2012
    Epic Kiwi wrote: »
    Spoilers:
    She's not the real Clementine, she's a psychopathic midget (that's why she speaks in an adult's voice) who murdered Clementine and her family and took their house for herself right before the zombie apocalypse started. Lee had better watch himself.

    *Sing Song Voice* Somebody Rented Orphan instead of The Orphanage on Netflix
  • edited May 2012
    there could be any number of reason why Clemintine is in first grade. she does seem to be smart though so I would think that maybe she started school late
  • CapnJayCapnJay Banned
    edited May 2012
    She's definitely got Street Smarts
  • edited May 2012
    Elron wrote: »
    I found it funny that in the beginning of the game, Clementine tells us that she is eight years old, but later (on the farm), she mentions she is in first grade. Guess she's not too bright because most first graders are six, and a few are seven. She must have been held back.
    I got held back an extra year in kindergarten. Guess I wasn't too smart. (Shyness was the real reason. :P)
  • JenniferJennifer Moderator
    edited May 2012
    kayvent wrote: »
    Some cultures "count their years". For those in Computer Science, they know what I mean.

    'We' as North Americans tend to say a person who was born 13 years ago is 13 (years old), but some cultures would say they are 14 because they are in their 14th year. Maybe Clementine is asian.
    I hadn't thought of that, but that makes a lot of sense. Clementine definitely looks like she could be Asian or part Asian.
  • edited May 2012
    Redrum! Redrum!

    Actually I was started late in school. But scored in the top 2% of the nation for my ACT and SAT tests, and have maintained extremely close to a 4.0 average throughout my years at university, so intelligence is not lacking. My mother decided to start me later because I was hyperactive as a child and she wanted me to calm down a bit before putting me into that environment.

    There are many valid reasons, other than lack of intelligence, for which a child may have started later in school.
  • CapnJayCapnJay Banned
    edited May 2012
    I started school early but i was in another country at the time
  • edited May 2012
    I was born in October so was usually oldest in my class as well/started late. But also did well all through school and got good scores in testing. I turned 8 in 1st grade
  • edited May 2012
    Did one playthrought with that off and another with Ui on and yea it popped up

    That's Lee's assumption.

    so he's the one who's behind. :D
    look at his face, so uncertain...
  • CapnJayCapnJay Banned
    edited May 2012
    Queen Clem was held back a year do to blatant racism against Asian/African Americans in Georgia. I smell a Conspiracy!


    Or She might have been sick for a while that dress she wears looks like the same thing sickly girls in horror movies wear
  • edited May 2012
    Elron wrote: »
    I found it funny that in the beginning of the game, Clementine tells us that she is eight years old, but later (on the farm), she mentions she is in first grade. Guess she's not too bright because most first graders are six, and a few are seven. She must have been held back.

    She was held back for throttling the last person who questioned her intelligence.
  • CapnJayCapnJay Banned
    edited May 2012
    She was held back for throttling the last person who questioned her intelligence.

    She was so intelligent she actually made the teachers feel stupid so it's their attempt at revenge. But remember what happened when Arnold Rimmer was held back in an alternate universe.... What a Guy
  • edited May 2012
    CapnJay wrote: »
    Queen Clem was held back a year do to blatant racism against Asian/African Americans in Georgia. I smell a Conspiracy!


    Or She might have been sick for a while that dress she wears looks like the same thing sickly girls in horror movies wear

    or her family moves around often :)
  • CapnJayCapnJay Banned
    edited May 2012
    Vold wrote: »
    or her family moves around often :)

    True enough
  • edited May 2012
    CapnJay wrote: »
    True enough

    moves around to do their medical research ;)
  • CapnJayCapnJay Banned
    edited May 2012
    Vold wrote: »
    moves around to do their medical research ;)

    dun dun duunnnnn
  • edited May 2012
    Yeah there's def somethin fishy about her parents. I doubt we'll ever know tho

    Kirkman doesn't reveal the cause of his zombie apocalypse, nor the specifics of how or why the virus works exactly. The show talks about the basic brain function but I don't think it mentions what kind of virus it is either.

    Would def be interesting if some of that news breaks in the game tho! Maybe her parents worked for the CDC
  • CapnJayCapnJay Banned
    edited May 2012
    ADavidson wrote: »
    Yeah there's def somethin fishy about her parents. I doubt we'll ever know tho

    Kirkman doesn't reveal the cause of his zombie apocalypse, nor the specifics of how or why the virus works exactly. The show talks about the basic brain function but I don't think it mentions what kind of virus it is either.

    Would def be interesting if some of that news breaks in the game tho! Maybe her parents worked for the CDC

    well maybe we will find out as the plot progresses. Heck maybe the Dev's taking all our opinions and thoughts into account and sifting the gold
  • edited May 2012
    Irishmile wrote: »
    its not uncommon for parents to start their kids late for different reasons..
    My wife and I started my son late because he was so tiny.. and now he is a full year older then all his classmates... (still smaller than them too even with him being a year older)

    That said he WAS still just 7 when he was a first grader... While I am talking about my kid.. he just tested in the top 10% in our state for reading and math.. and our state has the second highest scores in the country.. so my 3rd grader is probably smarter than I am LOL.... so proud.

    Whoa, that looks like me! I was also small all growing up, until 10th grade where I hit a 1 foot growth spurt. So he's got that to look forward to!

    I was also 8 in first grade, due to having a summer birthday. I wasn't old enough by a certain date required to start kindegarten so had to wait a year.

    You could also end up being 8 in the first grade if you started at 7 and had your birthday anywhere between august-may. In fact, it could even be the summer and Clem would still say she's in first grade despite the fact that she has completed the year. Kids don't always understand abstract things like titles.
  • edited May 2012
    Yeah if the game takes place between march and june that makes sense. Like I said, I was born in October so I was 7 when I entered 1st grade then turned 8
  • edited May 2012
    I would say that she had to wait the extra year because her birthday fell after the school cut off date just like my nieces and nephews here in the uk
  • edited May 2012
    How about this as an idea to clear up the entire conspiracy. The game creators are all young urban professionals with no children of their own and therefore they have no idea how old a kid in 1st grade should be. You all read way too much into this stuff. Geez, it's a game for gawds sake.
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