In the dojo, just like the classroom,
the children who interrupt, act out, and pay no attention to the
lessons end up costing the diligent and eager students precious
learning time. In turn, these eager students often get bored, feel
like they are not learning enough, and resent those who are
disruptive and are getting all the attention of the instructor. I've
seen kids get fed up and not want to participate anymore. In both
school, and karate class.
And the martial arts is full of
children who have parents seeking discipline for their unfocused
youngsters. This can be a good thing. Sometimes it works. However,
there is a notion that a martial arts instructor can mystically
transform any student. Or that the discipline of a martial art is
going to “force” a youngster to “fall in line” as it were.
But it's not the army. And misbehaving
children, while some are just seeking attention, many have genuine
problems focusing and/or behaving, especially in a situation that is
not one-on-one. The situation needs understanding, to be sure.
However, having a dojo full of students
watching one or two children do push-ups for half of the class is not
ideal for anyone. And truly, the eager students pay the price for
this behaviour.
I think the parents need to be more
involved. Often, they just drop off the child and come back after the
class is over. Like it's a babysitting situation. But they need to
watch what is going on from time to time. After all, there may be a
bigger problem here that needs to be addressed.
Likewise, instructors need to have open
communications with the parents. Many also need to learn more about
childhood behaviour and attention disorders.
And lastly, other students in the
class, even though they are young, need to feel comfortable speaking
up and identifying problems. The instructor needs to listen to this
and work things out accordingly.
Because there is room for everyone when
it comes to learning, but sometimes a little extra work is required
by everyone involved.
