All children are not equally capable of learning in a classroom with so many distractions: a teacher at the front talking, Bobby dropping his book on the floor, Candy and Janet whispering, a dog barking outside the window, bright eye-catching pictures on the walls, etc. Some children can easily “tune out” these distractions and others cannot.
Johnny is six and just started Grade 1. He is fascinated by all the kids and far more interested in them than in what the teacher is saying. Besides she speaks so slowly and keeps going over the same stuff. She is boring. He would much rather be home trying to beat another level on his video game. He’d rather be outside playing. He’d rather be doing anything besides sitting here.
Johnny has tuned out. Actually, he never tuned in. By the end of Grade 1, he has missed much of what was taught. As he moves into Grade 2 he is already lacking foundational skills and knowledge. Even if he wanted to pay attention he no longer can because he doesn’t know what the teacher is talking about. So he goes back to daydreaming about his video game or pokes the girl in front of him. He will soon become a behaviour problem.
By Grade 3, the teacher is starting to recognize that Johnny is not up with the rest of the class. She is a good teacher. His teachers in Grades 1 and 2 were good teachers. So it must be Johnny’s fault, situations at home, or that he has ADD or a learning disability.
The parents are called in for a meeting. They tell the teachers that Johnny is good at home. There are no problems at home. They are good parents. So it must be the teachers’ fault. Or maybe he does have some condition like ADD, ADHD, or LD.
Johnny is bright. He is bored. He has to sit in a boring classroom all day, every day, for years! He has developed a coping strategy that enables him to endure this suffering: paying attention to his own thoughts instead of the teacher.
Attention is a skill that can be learned but may require a facilitator to help through the process. In my clinic, I train children in selective attention (stay on task when distraction is present), divided attention (attend to and handle two or more tasks at one time), and sustained attention (stay on task). With these skills intact the child can pay attention, learn what he is being taught, and even become genuinely interested in the subject. |
