14 DAY TRIAL // Over the past couple of decades, more and more cases of school-based violence, abuse between children, and violent confrontations have surfaced in the media, making many people fear for the safety of their young ones. Cases of bullying have also spiraled out of control, and diversified in their forms, and it would appear that there is no way of curbing this phenomenon. But a new study appears to indicate that providing children with the means they need to solve problems, and teaching them self-control can have significant advantages in improving their school performances, as well as in reducing instances in which they are subjected to violence from others, LiveScience reports.
According to the investigation, the children who were taught how to keep an eye on their anger level, and how to manage it, were far more likely than their peers to exercise emotional self-control, and thus improve their behavior in the classroom. They were also less likely than their peers to suffer from reprimands, such as receiving disciplinary referrals and suspensions. Children in the recent study were put through a school-based mentoring program, and then had their behavior surveyed for as little as three months.
In spite of the short study time, the investigators noticed tremendous differences between children in the study group and their peers who had not taken part in the mentoring program. Those in the study group were 46 percent less likely than others to get referrals, and also exhibited a 43 percent lower rate of mean suspensions. “It is exciting that adult mentors, who are not mental health professionals, taught children a set of skills that significantly strengthened the children's ability to function well in their classrooms and meet school expectations,” says expert Peter Wyman, PhD.
“This study suggests that with appropriate guidance from a trained adult, young children are capable of learning a great deal about their emotions and skills for handling their emotions effectively and those skills can have direct, positive benefits for their functioning in school,” he adds. The scientist is a University of Rochester Medical Center associate professor of psychiatry. He is also the lead author of a new article accompanying the findings, which appears in the latest online issue of the respected scientific Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.
“Our goal in developing the Rochester Resilience Project was to 'translate' findings from research about how children learn skills to be more resilient in relationships with adults into an accessible program in schools. Being a successful student in elementary school classrooms establishes a foundation that makes healthy development more likely in the future,” Wyman concludes.