The spoiled child has two dominating characteristics—an intense
selfishness and an insatiable appetite for attention. The teacher’s
problem is therefore two-fold, first, to reduce his self-consciousness
by increasing his interest in the world about him, and, secondly, to
enlist his sympathies for others so as to increase his altruism and
supplant his selfishness with a wholesome socialization.
[Sidenote: Spoiled Child]
Karen Gompers was a very bright little girl whom adoring parents, aunts,
grandparents and enlisted friends had quite spoiled. She expected her
teacher to give her the constant attention she enjoyed at home, and
resented the fact that Miss Nelson seemed to think each of forty other
children as important as she was.
“I want to sit by you,” she announced as her class seated itself in the
circle of little chairs. “I like to be here.”
“You can’t sit by me today, Karen. It is Wilson’s and Eunice’s turn. You
may sit in that empty chair over there.”
“But I don’t want to! I want to sit here!” and she stood stoutly by the
coveted chair. All the other children were watching her, and she was
enjoying her prominence in the scene she was creating. Miss Nelson hated
a scene above all things, and prided herself on the perfect mechanics of
her teaching.
“Well, Wilson, suppose you let Karen sit here today—that’s a good boy.”
“But you promised me I could!” There were sudden tears in Wilson’s eyes.
“I’ll let you sit here another day, Wilson. Be a little gentleman, and
remember that gentlemen give up their chairs to girls.”
So Karen had her way because she had learned the despotism of the
selfish, who secure their ends by sheer insistence. Wilson lost his
faith in his teacher’s word, which did not tend to make him a gentleman,
and Miss Nelson proved herself a coward in consenting to sacrifice
Karen’s good to her own dislike of a conflict.