Ignored Students

Teachers have always concentrated their attention, rightly so, on students who stand out because of their remarkable talents or because of their unruly behavior. In a class of 25 children, the extremes are readily apparent to impartial observers. And so, a small portion of students are almost ignored because they never give problems and never volunteer answers. They are the withdrawn types.

This withdrawal from social participation may be a sign of very deep emotional problems or simply of extreme shyness. In either case, these children may very well be the butt of jokes by extroverted classmates. Most of these quiet students actually do their work and pass their tests, since they usually possess adequate skills. They will not cause a blip on the teacher’s radar and thus will remain largely ignored.

Other withdrawn students however, who do not fare well in class, will be tested and perhaps placed in special education settings as slow learners. They too will be ridiculed by some of their more advanced classmates. This constant emotional attack throughout primary schooling will eventually produce children who have a very low self-esteem and who lose their motivation for success.

With time, these withdrawn students will stop participating in group work, fearing scathing comments by some of their peers. They will only go through the motions with very little commitment and engagement in school work and will abstain from participating in extracurricular activities. The slow learners will quickly be labeled as such with insulting terms such as dummy, stupid, dimwitted and moron by other children.

Even though teachers in primary schools feel overworked, it is essential that they quickly identify and offer help to the withdrawn children. These students need a lot of support, both emotional and academic. There are strategies that can help them, which include talking to the other students and explaining how important the participation of each group member is.

It may even be necessary for schools to recommend professional treatment by psychologists and counselors to both the withdrawn students and their parents. A weekly one-on-one session with the child may bring him/her out of the shell, thus allowing the discovery of the fears that afflict him/her.

Unfortunately, public schools usually pay little attention to those cases due mainly to reduced budgets for mental health. The parents themselves may not be able to pay the very expensive private treatment or they assume that the child is going through a “phase”. If nothing is done, we will produce thousands of troubled adults who won’t know how to face life’s daily challenges.