The Learning Success Blog

New research shows behaviour in high school is a stronger predictor than IQ or socio-economic background of better jobs and higher income.  

The research has been published by the American Psychological Association based on data collected from 346,660 U.S. high school students in 1960 and follow up research 11 and 50 years later.

The 1960 high school phase measured a variety of student behaviours and attitudes as well as personality traits, cognitive abilities, parental socioeconomic status and demographic factors.

The follow-up surveys measured overall educational attainment, income and occupational prestige.

All 560 students at my granddaughter’s primary school in Sydney signed a massive banner with the pledge: “Standing Together Against Bullying”.

The banner is prominently displayed at the school’s entrance.  The mass signing is part of her school’s participation in the National Day of Action against Bullying & Violence.

Similar activities took place in many schools around Australia on March 16, 2018.

“All the lonely people, where do they all come from?  All the lonely people, where do they all belong?”

 “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles (1966)

The stereotypical lonely old lady or man is what many people think of when confronted with the fact that there are lonely people all around them.

It's easy to understand why some old people may be lonely. They’re living alone. Their children may live far away, or they may not have children. These lonely men and women might have illnesses or physical disabilities that prevent them from easily leaving their homes to make or maintain friendships.

We don’t often think of children being lonely. But many are.

Many of our readers, and listeners to the Learning Capacity Podcast have expressed interest in oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).

They want to understand what behaviours are typical of a child with ODD,  what causes this troubling condition, and what the treatments are.

If this is something that interests you, and you have not read our two blogs or listened to the podcasts, here they are:

How to Deal with Oppositional Defiant Disorder: Dr Shan Ong  explains.

5 Signs of Oppositional Defiant Disorder & 4 Ways to Help an ODD Child.

Now we have an additional resource to share, thanks to Dr Lauren Feiden at the Manhattan Psychology Group in New York. It is an infographic they sent to us after reading our blogs.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder, or ODD, can be traumatic to deal with. 

A child's oppositional or defiant behaviour needs to be consistent and obvious for about 6 months, before it's classified as ODD. This can seem like a long time before parents make decisions to do something about it. 

Dr Shan Ong is a developmental paediatrician with deep experience in this field.

I spoke to him on the Learning Capacity podcast, and asked about ODD. What does it mean for parents to take the first steps in handling the situation? And what can parents expect?  Dr Ong  explained that for parents it's a mixture of emotions from relief to denial.  They have to come to terms with the long road ahead. 

We also talked about the role of the child's school. How the school fits in with strategies at home. And  the relationship with a medical professional. 

I started by asking Dr Ong to clarify what defiant behaviours might look like.

Listen to the discussion:

Does your child argue a lot – with you or teachers?  Does he or she seem to anger easily?  Is this behaviour worrying you?

It could be quite normal – just a phase your child is going through. On the other hand they may have oppositional defiant disorder, also known as ODD.

There are five signs which can point to ODD, according to Dr Martha Burns, Director of Neuroscience Education at Scientific Learning Corporation.  In a recent conversation on the Learning Capacity Podcast, she described the signs and discussed how to help a child who has this disorder.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

What's your opinion about young children using computer technology?  Do you think too much use is a problem? How much is too much? Is it a problem for their intellectual, social, emotional, or physical development? Does it reduce their learning capacity and contribute to behaviour problems?

If you have, like me, been reading some of the commentary about this issue, it would be easy to believe that there is definitely a problem. Or you might have an uneasy feeling that in some ways, for some children it could be.

Well, maybe it's time to think again.