Watching Out For The Quiet Ones ‐ The Work of the National Pyramid Trust
| Published date | 01 September 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13619322200500024 |
| Pages | 16-20 |
| Date | 01 September 2005 |
| Author | Bronach Hughes |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Watching Out For The Quiet
Ones – The Work of the
National Pyramid Trust
Bronach Hughes
London Development Manager
National Pyramid Trust
Case Study 1
The problem with children…
Almost every day the newspapers are full of stories
about children who are out of control, parents who
cannot manage their children’s behaviour and
neighbours driven to taking the law into their own
hands to combat local vandals. The tabloids bring us
the latest exploits of individual children who are
subject to anti-social behaviour orders and teachers
complain that they cannot teach because of the
disruptive behaviour of children in the classroom.
Yet thereis another group of children in our midst
whose behaviour should be just as much a cause of
concernto us, a group whose needs are different but
just as important, and who are apt to get lost in the
noise and confusion of modernlife. They are the quiet
children, the painfully shy, the withdrawn, the
anxious, the friendless – the ‘invisible children’
(Makins, 1997) whose needs are often overlooked in
the classroom and who are not getting the support at
home or in the community that they need in order to
thrive.
Lots of children are shy and they grow out of it.
Being quiet and undemanding is something we might
want to encourage in our children. Not everyone is
gregarious and some people are happy to be solitary
and self-sufficient. So why might being quiet be a
problem?
The downside of being quiet
Research by the Harvard Graduate School of
Education and Brandeis University (Watson &
Fischer,2002) identified ‘inhibited temperament’ as
the second strongest predictor of aggression and
violence in children (growing up in a violent
environment was, as one would expect, the strongest
predictor). This somewhat surprising conclusion
followed a seven-year study of 440 children and
adolescents in Springfield, Massachusetts, and may
explain the isolated, alienated children who have
committed school attacks in the US and elsewhere.
Inhibited children displayed the same sorts of
characteristics identified by Makins – they were
socially withdrawn, uncomfortable or distressed in
new situations and anxious about making new friends
or trying new activities.
Of course, not all quiet children are destined to
become mass murderers. Instead, they are more likely
to suffer from a range of mental health problems as
they grow up. They are likely to fall into the 12% of
children with diagnosable anxiety disorders (Mental
Health Foundation, 1999) or the estimated five per
cent of children under 12 who display depressive
symptoms (Child Psychotherapy Trust, 2002). A
quarter of children with emotional disorders are likely
to suffer from them for at least three years (Meltzer,
2003), rising to over a thirdof children whose mothers
have poor mental health and up to 30% of those who
experienced three or more stressful events preceding
the onset of the emotional disorder.All in all, a rather
depressing picture of childhood.
An intervention to offer hope
However,thereis work going on to support these
children, to try and counter the stresses of school and
home and offer them some optimism in their difficult
16 The Mental Health Review Volume 10 Issue 3 September 2005 ©Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) 2005
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