Roanoke Rapids daily herald., 1948-09-22
Don't Baby
TOT With
An Injury
By GARRY CLEVELAND MYERS, PhD

AFTER teaching q number of
years, l discovered one day that,
although l an, right-handed, l had
been pointing always with my left
index finger, as to things on the
blackboard. Unawares, l was hid
ing the right finger which is crooked
and putting the best finger forward.
This trait may be justified. But
there's more to that finger episode.
l must have been about ten years
old when the end of that finger
was crushed and left crooked. The
injury brought me considerable at
tention from the family. Also l re-
member the satisfaction | enjoyed
at seeing how long this injury
helped me escape such jobs as pull
ing weeds from the garden, and
remember how successfully l en-
ployed this injury to my finger for
escaping with approval many other
jobs for long while; also the spe-
cial attention the injured finger
brought me when there was COM
pany, hearing over and over the de-
tails of the accident, which l was
able to embellish a bit from time
to time.
Social Approval
l also recall that, occasionally,
my conscience pricked me a bit
when l used this sore finger to es-
cape doing jobs l knew l could and
should do. But thanks to all the
social approval and attention, my
conscience bothered me less and
less.
Breathes there any other adult
who can't recall similar experiences
which served with approval a means
of escape? Many of US don't have
to go back so far for examples-only
to last Sunday or last night, per-
haps-when a tired feeling or head
ache caused us not to 60 to church.
not to write the letter. or to avoid
doing some other little task. The
chances are we announced our "Ill-
ness" to the family and won their
verbal approval. | suppose every
body has been guilty of using such
patterns of escape. The more fire.
quent and varied their use by us,
the less easy it is for others to live
and work with us. A symptom Of
mental illness the psychiatrist must
often deal with is escapism of all
sorts. Enough Of it can land one in
an institution for the insane.
Physical Health
You can see how important it is
to cultivate good physical health in
the child from his early years. Even
the infant or tot escapes desirable
restraint and, later, escapes whole
some requirements by being a bit
i'll. How easy for him to win more
escape by feigning illness. Think of
all the youngsters who. on a school
morning. stay home and escape los
ing coveted home attention or es-
cape dreaded experiences at school
or on the way. through playing sick.
Some high school students use the
device for running away from
dreaded examination.
In the home a "headache" or
pain in the stomach" helps many
child to run away from washing
dishes or doing many other chores.
my bulletin, How Teach Child to
Help at Home" may be had in
stamped envelope.)
Let us parents be alert to these
problems in ourselves and our chill
dren. Striving to set good exam
pie, let us set the stage so as to
make it harder for the child to es-
cape reality through playing sick or
shifting blame for his own acts to
others. The more constantly the
child faces reality. however difficult.
the better he grows in mental
health, personality and moral char
acter.
Answering Parents Questions
@, Our daughter, four, wants us
to read and read and read to her but
she won't say back any of the
rhymes and stories when we ask her
to do so.
A. Quit asking her to do so. Keep
filing up her little head with them.
She may run over" by and by and
what she spills over" then may be
choice creations with 4 bit of many
rhymes and stories she has heard.
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