THOSE "PROBLEM" CHILDREN

New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 315, 6 July 1945, Page 12

THOSE "PROBLEM" CHILDREN

(Written for "The Listener’ by

MARGOT

HOGBEN

T all depends on the way you look at it. You might think that children who are trouble-

some in school or who stay away consistently should be taught a real lesson so that they will be too scared not to behave properly or put in a regular appearance after that; or you might be inclined to the theory that the little dears should be allowed to express themselves no matter what the cost to the teacher and the rest of the class; or, like the Education Department, you might want to discover the

fundamental reasons for anti-social behaviour among children in primary schools, and _ establish some means of finding out. Last year, as an experiment based on similar work done in the United States and England over the past 20 years or so, nine women, all experienced teachers, were appointed to schools at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Wanganui, Napier and Invercargill, as

visiting teachers. The purpose of the appointments was that these women should make contacts with the parents or guardians of children whose behaviour or work at school seemed to indicate the, need for educational or other adjustment. So successful has the work of these appointees been that it is hoped teachers of this nature will remain as permanent members of the staff and that systematised courses of training will be inaugurated to permit other interested teachers to fit themselves for this important work. The Case of Claude Visiting teachers are called on’ by staff members of primary schools to solve all kinds of problems. No child is ever troublesome, educationists say, without a sound reason, although the reason may sometimes appear a trifle peculiar in adult eyes. For instance, there was Claude. He would not attend school regularly and was consistently naughty. The visiting teacher was appealed to for help. She went to his home and found that there was little parental control, although Claude was not particularly difficult away from school surroundings. She called early one morning to take him to school herself, but he eluded her by climbing through a window. Another time she collected him from the pictures with a truant companion, took them both to afternoon tea and then escorted them on to a tram. Claude, after politely relinquishing his: seat to somebody else, slipped off the tram away from the teacher. This kind of behaviour continued for some time, although you must remember that there was no ill-feeling between Claude and the teacher. One of the first aims of the visiting teachers has been to establish friendly relations

between themselves and the children concerned, and it is a great tribute to their tact, understanding and patience, that they have all succeeded so’ well. Suddenly the problem was solved. The visiting teacher remembered one day how, in some of her successful attempts to talk to Claude, he had told her how anxious he was to go on to a farm. She pursued this theme, and discovered that an older boy in Claude’s neighbourhood, through committing a series of trivial

crimes, had been placed on a farm to rehabilitate himself. Claude’s actions were now clear. He had tried to copy this particular boy with the hope that because of his misdeeds he too would be sent to a farm. With the co-opera-tion of various people, Claude spent his holidays on a farm, and since then has given no trouble, Most Common Cause The visitine teach-

ers have found that in nearly all cases the children who cause the most anxiety at school, not just by playing truant, but also by lack of concentration or. some form of misbehaviour, are those whose domestic backgrounds leave much to be desired. The most common root cause of a child’s misdemeanours, they say, is discord in the home. Or it occasionally happens that although a child may be well looked after from a mere physical standpoint, and lack for nothing in the way of food or clothes or toys, real affection towards him is missing. Without consciously knowing what is the matter, he will try to make himself important in someone’s eyes, even if the simplest way to do it seems to him to be transgressing the laws, written and unwritten, which govern behaviour at school. Girls Behave Better It has been proved by visiting teachers that there is much to be done before every child is properly catered for by all branches of the community. For instance, they strongly disapprove of some films which children are able to see, because they feel that many standards of life and conduct portrayed on the screen fall far below those which children should have set before them. Teachers have found that on the whole, among the children attending primary school, there is far less trouble with girls than with -boys, nevertheless they say there are really no facilities for entertainment and the right kind of social life among girls in the 14-16 age group. There are a few organisations throughout New Zealand which do good service in catering for young people, but little (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) seems to have been done in the way of providing opportunities for girls of this age to meet members of the opposite sex in a healthy atmosphere. So Sally and Mary go out for their amusement, because there is no community gather-ing-ground, and consequently are not able to concentrate on their school work and good behaviour as well as they might otherwise. Boys of this age are easier to handle, because there are plenty of" sports clubs which they can join, but it is more difficult to arouse an interest in sport in the mind of a wayward young miss of 13 or 14 who regards herself as being above childish things. Give Them Something To Do This finding out where the child’s main interest lies is one of the main points stressed by the visiting teachers. Once they have set up a bond between themselves and the children, the path is much easier. Then the teacher is regarded as a friend, to whom any proofs of achievement are of the greatest interest. Good school work, flowers or vegetables cultivated in their own plots, or anything which they have made themselves are brought by the children to the teacher. She encourages them, and incidentally brings them round to see that pride in personal appearance, work, and behaviour in and out of school is very desirable. Every effort is made by the teachers to persuade the children to join outside clubs in their after-school hours, because it is the children wh have nothing to do who are a potential nuisance to the community. This work has proved its success in the United States, and the year’s experiment in New Zealand carried out on the same lines has proved how eager members of the staffs of primary schools ate for visiting teachers to help them to understand their "problem" children. In her book, The Problem Child in School, Mary Sayles writes: "With her training and experience both as a teacher and a social case worker, and with her special knowledge of the behaviour and personality problems of the children, the visiting teacher has the equipment needed for this work, and thus represents one of the most interesting and promising of the recent efforts which the school is making to understand the pupil as a child and to meet his individual needs with high professional skill."