He means nerds, as defined by children. Children don't seem to know the term geek or its positive connotations until late high school or college.
He is a child psychologist. He is most concerned about middle school, grades 6-8, and math and science drop-out then.
What he is saying is that children are turned off from geekiness because they are afraid of becoming nerds. If his campaign to increase acceptance of geeky tendencies in childhood is successful, there will probably be more of both. If he convinces *mainstream* parents that there is no reason why little Johnny can't be good at math and captain the football team at the same time, fewer nerds will take pride in their lack of social skills. And perhaps will work on them.
Re: Probably the wrong term
He is a child psychologist. He is most concerned about middle school, grades 6-8, and math and science drop-out then.
What he is saying is that children are turned off from geekiness because they are afraid of becoming nerds. If his campaign to increase acceptance of geeky tendencies in childhood is successful, there will probably be more of both. If he convinces *mainstream* parents that there is no reason why little Johnny can't be good at math and captain the football team at the same time, fewer nerds will take pride in their lack of social skills. And perhaps will work on them.