The fifth-graders at Denver's Thomas A. Edison Elementary School sit in a circle with their principal Forest Fransen. Placing an empty soda bottle on the floor, Fransen and the kids spin it to choose the order of children who will "tell about themselves. "After a few embarrassed giggles, a boy named Paul says, "I like to go fishing a lot. There are six in my family and two are babies. That's all. "Another boy Don reveals that "I've got a sister in junior high; I had another sister, but she had cancer. "The children are fascinated.
So goes the first class in "emotional skills," a new course that has spread to several dozen public and private schools in cities from New York to San Francisco. Increasing numbers of states are arranging some form of classroom instruction for mental health to help children forestall the emotional scars that lead to drug abuse and delinquency (青少年犯罪), etc.
For one fifth-grade lesson, the teacher breeds jealousy by repeatedly choosing the same bright, attractive youngster to do blackboard work. When the child balks at this favoritism, the teacher reveals her trick, and then tries to lead the students to admit that they feel jealous. "It's important that no one feels he is strange or evil if he is jealous from time to time. By admitting jealousy and talking about it, children are less likely to act out their aggressive feelings. "
At four schools in Colorado Springs, where the courses have been taught for the past two years, about half the parents say their children have become more willing to discuss their problems. "Before, my daughter just threw a fit, "said one mother. "Now, she is reported to have fewer discipline problems. "Social workers say they get more" self-referral kids with problems they sense they can't handle alone. " Among the few criticisms, one parent said that" these attitudes and insights are training that I would rather have my child receive at home. "
Despite this seeming success, no one is yet sure how much of the kids' improvement is due to normal growing up or merely the extra attention they get in the course. Noting that the Colorado teachers have been trained in special seminars, critics also fear that untrained or insecure teachers could easily confuse the kids they are trying to help.
Emotional-skills courses are obviously well-intentioned efforts to forestall critical social problems. As the courses spread, though, mistakes seem inevitable. Thus, sharp questions are likely to be raised about whether those efforts are pointed in the right direction.
