While working as a clinical psychologist in Delhi one finds that the most common problem with which parents and teachers bring children is poor academic performance. It is commonly believed that the child is careless and unmotivated and therefore does not study. Often various tactics are used to get rid of this supposed carelessness and lack of motivation including rewards and punishments. Children are threatened with extreme consequences or offered exciting rewards to boost their performance but these usually fail adding to the dismay and frustration of parents and teachers.
It is important to acknowledge that poor academic performance is a complex psychological problem which needs to be diagnosed, understood and managed correctly and professionally. Poor academic performance can be due to cognitive problems, emotional difficulties or a combination of the two. These children may be suffering from a problem over which they hardly have any control.
Among the cognitive problems, the most prominent ones are low intelligence and specific learning disability (dyslexia). Some children lack the intelligence that is required to understand higher academic concepts although they function well in all other fields. There are others who have high intelligence but have difficulties in cognitive processing due to which they have problems in reading, writing and arithmetic. Children suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have a difficulty in focusing while studying and therefore perform poorly in academics.
Apart from the above cognitive problems, there are several emotional factors which interfere with the academic performance of children. Some children have a negative self-concept and despite being very intelligent they carry a conviction that they will never succeed and thus feel unmotivated. For some children performing badly is an expression of rage and anger which they may be carrying due to interpersonal conflicts in family or school environment. There are others who have an unconscious fear of being successful. They fear that if they are successful they will have to face some dreadful event like separation from a loved one or physical injury and therefore do not feel like taking the risk. Often the children are unable to understand and articulate these emotional conflicts but operate under their control. These conflicts can be understood and healed by a thorough psychological assessment and intervention.
If your child is suffering from chronic poor academic performance do not blame him or her. Common tactics like rewards and punishments have limited value in this condition. It is important that you get a thorough psychological assessment of the child done to understand and treat the condition.
Author: Pulkit Sharma is Clinical Psychologist at Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (VIMHANS), New Delhi.