Article Summary: Can Self Control Be Taught

The excerpt entitled, “Can Self-Control Be Taught” discusses childhood play in a positive light. It discusses how letting children engage in play is the best way for them to learn the basic elements of academic success and in fact, they learn these elements better while playing rather than in a regular classroom with the normal curriculum being taught. Playing allows children to learn abstract thinking, self-reflection, impulse control, and motivation. Abstract thinking is learned from different play scenarios, for example their desk and chairs could be seen as a fire engine. Self-reflection is encouraged by doing things while talking aloud first and eventually the kids are left silently mouthing the words. The game Simon Says is a terrific way to practice impulse control, as kids must pay attention to the task at hand and restrain any

Having self-control aids in directing your attention and restricting your impulses. Both of which are important tasks that a well-behaved child must complete. One example the chapter gave of a lack of self-control is the student body in New Jersey that was immersed in a food fight while the students in the Tools class not only did not participate but they were surprised at the lack of self-control the rest of the student body had. This would be a situation where self-control would have been very valuable. This chapter also talks about how self-control is in many cases a very good predicting factor for academic success. It even states that in many cases self-control is better at predicting academic success than IQ scores. This chapter speaks on the value of self-control being the predictability of academia, controlled attention span, and good control of impulses. I believe the chapter is consistent with what the textbook has to say about self-control because both speak highly of it and consider it a good predictor of academic