PARIS - CHILDREN who badly misbehave in school are likelier to end up with a dud job, poor mental health, teen pregnancy or divorce, according to a British study published on Friday.
The paper, published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), provides statistical backing for teachers who sound warnings about anti-social behaviour, its authors say.
It draws on an exceptionally long-term investigation, launched among 3,652 Britons who were born in 1946. With their consent, these volunteers have been monitored at occasional intervals since their birth, filling in questionnaires about their health, family and professional life.
At the ages of 13 and 15, this group was assessed by their teachers, who were asked to grade their behaviour as having severe, mild or no conduct problems.
A total of 9.5 per cent of the teenagers were identified as having severe problems; 28.8 per cent had mild problems; and 61.7 per cent no problems.
Forty years later, the follow up inquiry found a clear link between misbehaviour at school and difficulties in adult life.
"Adolescent misconduct might adversely affect developing social behaviours and result in pervasive social and mental health difficulties throughout adult life." the paper suggests.
"青年期不端行将会有威力不利地影响在成人生活中弥漫的社会行为和精神健康困难结果。"
"Thanh niên vi sai trái có thể ảnh hưởng bất lợi đến phát triển xã hội và hành vi kết quả pervasive trong xã hội và sức khỏe tâm thần dành cho người lớn những khó khăn trong suốt cuộc đời."
Compared with those with no conduct problems at school, those who severely misbehaved were twice as likely to become a parent before the age of 20; likelier to get divorced or have relationship problems with spouses, children or friends; four times likelier to leave school with no qualifications, and twice as likely to be in a manual job or unemployed.
Problems in life also extended, but to a lesser degree, to those with milder forms of misbehaviour.
Males accounted for 62.6 per cent of those with severe behavioural problems at school and 54.8 per cent of those with mild problems. If the father had a manual job, this too was a major factor among teenagers in these categories.
The study is led by Ian Colman, an assistant professor of public health at the University of Alberta, Canada.
Prof Colman says the study provides a useful guide for focusing resources to help teenagers whose behaviour could prove costly both to themselves in adulthood, and to society.
He admits that the study has some limitations - there are no data to explain why children misbehaved, for instance.
On the other hand, the teachers' assessment was a good indicator of a child's risk of delinquency, and a better guide than the parents' own assessment, he argues.
FIVE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: Dolores Mirabella (Adapted)
1. Communication:
a) Read and listen actively to learn and communicate.
b) Speak and write effectively for personal, academic and workplace purposes.
2) Human Relations:
a) Use social interactive skills to work in groups effectively.
3) Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving:
a) Think critically in evaluating information, solving problems, and making decisions.
4) Technology:
a) Select the appropriate use of technological tools for personal, academic, and career tasks.
5) Personal Responsibility:
a) Be motivated and able to continue learning and adapt to change.
b) Value one's own skills, abilities, ideas, and art.
c) Take pride in one's work.
d) Manage personal health and safety.
"I tend to be attracted to characters who are up against a wall with very few alternatives. And the film then becomes an examination of how they cope with very few options. And that's, I guess, what interests me in terms of human behavior." William Friedkin
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