Each child is unique

By Dr James Dobson

We talked last time about the flighty, disorganised children who absolutely refuse to do assigned schoolwork.

Let me share some thoughts about that underachieving child. First, these children are not intrinsically inferior to their hard-working siblings. Yes, it would be wonderful if every student used his or her talent to their best advantage, but each child is unique and does not have to fit the same mould.

Besides, the low achiever sometimes out-performs the academic superstar in the long run. That was what happened to Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. So do not write-off that disorganised, apparently lazy child as a lifelong loser. He or she may surprise you. Second, you will never turn an underachieving youngster into a scholar by nagging, pushing, threatening and punishing. If you try to squeeze your child into something he or she is not, you will only aggravate yourself and irritate the child.

Third, stay as close as possible to the school. Your child is not going to tell you what is going on there, so you need to find out for yourself and seek tutorial assistance, if necessary, to keep him or her on track. Fourth, your child lacks the discipline to structure his or her life. Help your child generate it. Fifth, having done what you can to help, accept what he or she does in return. Go with the flow and begin looking for other areas of success for your child.

From TODAY, Voices - Friday, 17-April-2009