The trait of selfishness, while not very annoying in the first grade, must be suppressed, for if left to develop, it becomes very annoying in the upper grades. Nothing seems worse than a selfish pupil in the grammar or high school. And no one needs an introduction to the avaricious man of the world who got his first lessons in greed through selfishness in childhood. For the sake of emphasis, then, may it be said again that there is no more opportune time to overcome these undesirable traits in a child, than when he first enters a new world of acquaintances and experiences in the first school year. CASE 124 (FIRST GRADE) 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. CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT