Evening star., 1937-04-21
Strain on the BUDGET
InattentiVe
Children
Need Help
The Only Remedy Is
to Find Cause and
Have It Removed.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

THESE are the days when notes
go home to fathers and mothers,
setting forth the sad fact that this
child Is very inattentive at school.
Please try to get him to pay attention,
otherwise he will have to be left back"
This note generally ends by saying
that this child could be one of the
best in class II he only would give
attention.
why don't you pay attention?"
Il do"
Teacher says you don't, and your
Ilport cards show you don't. Now
you just get busy and pay attention,
you understand"
Paying attention is not TO be COM
manded. 1t is to be captured through
the child's curiosity and interest.
All children, in good health, are
curious and interested in what goes
on around them. When they are not
interested it means they are not in
this happy state, but quite to the
contrary. Then. commanding atten-
ton is useless and the thing to do is
to find why they cannot attend to
their lessons, and help them to over
come whatever is in their way.
All children, good and bad, in
terested and Indifferent. want to sue
ceed, want the praise and the stand
ing that success brings. Those who
fail are sad and sorry, and instead
of adding to their burdens we ought
to find ways of Tightening them. The
inattentive child would pay attention
to the lessons If he could. For some
reason beyond his control he cannot.
Here are some of the reasons we
have found making trouble: The
child had defective eyesight or hear
ing. He was undernourished He
was not getting the right amount Of
sleep. He was unhappy at home be-
cause his father disliked him. He
was jealous of a brother or sister,
feeling himself an outcast from pa
rental affection. He was ashamed of
his clothes, or of his home, or his
people. He was graded too high or
too low. He was afraid Of his teacher,
or of somebody else. He had adenoids
that cut down his air supply. He was
sick and nobody, not even himself
knew it. He had lost lessons by
absence. He had been transferred
from school to school and couldn't
get himself adjusted in time for sue
cessful work. He was sub-normal
mentally. He was overnight. He
was grieving for a personal loss
These are just some of the troubles
that inattentive children were bearing
in silence.
Saying child is inattentive is not
doing anything for him. Use that
as the starting place and begin to
test and examine his environment,
background, past history, mental
ability, physical condition-every pos
sible side Of his life in a search for
the reason for the inattention. Be
certain that it is symptom of trou-
BILE and not the trouble itself. Nothing
can be done to remedy the situation
until the cause is found and removed.
The teacher should keep the in
attentive child close to her when
teaching him. She should make a
point of giving him personal atten-
ton once each day. not in the spirit
of angry remonstrance, but in the
true spirit of helpfulness. She should
always speak to him gently. His
mind is not with her until she traps
it. and the softly spoken word reaches
him quickly while the shout goes over
his head, leaving him more deaf, but
no brighter.
Mr.. Patri has prepared a leaflet
entitled "The Bashful Child" in
which he tells parents how to cope
with oversensitiveness in children.
Send for it, addressing your request
to Mr.. Angelo Patri, Child Psychology
Department of this paper. Inclose
q self-addressed, stamped (3-cent)
envelope.
Copyright. 1879