Education matters

In the 1970s, a psychologist at Stanford University called Walter Mischel conducted an experiment to understand self-control amongst children.

In order to do this he took 92 children, aged between three and five, and individually offered them one marshmallow to eat now or two if they could wait for 15 minutes. Naturally, a lot of the children opted for instant gratification and took the first marshmallow such was their childish lack of self control. However, not all children took the first marshmallow and were able to wait the full 15 minutes to receive double.

The strategies employed the children who managed to wait for the second marshmallow included sitting on their hands, thinking about other things and closing their eyes.

It is the follow up studies that Mischel completed with his study children, however, that provide interesting statistics regarding self-control. 

Most of the children who delayed gratification as adults were more likely to be:

- Attentive

- Verbally fluent

- Academically successful

- Socially competent

- More able to deal with stress and frustration

Mischel’s studies led him to draw further conclusions regarding the importance of self-control in reaching long-term goals and building lasting and meaningful relationships.

Self-control is a fundamental part of learning about life.

Students that can control urges are less likely to be distracted and ultimately more likely to be willing contributors to lessons in the classroom and learning in general. But modern life is one big marshmallow test so how can we teach children the importance of self-control at home and in school without becoming the fun police? 

The first rudimental point to remember when teaching children about self-control is that as a concept, it revolves around trust.

If a child can trust that they will receive their reward for demonstrating self-control, they will be more likely to repeat it as it holds value as a concept. 

With younger children identifying exactly what constitutes a distraction to them is a good place to start. 

Identified distractions can then be offered as a reward once chores and homework are done. 

This also sets a good foundation for the teenage years as we can’t expect young adults to demonstrate self-control naturally because there are so many distractions around them and most generally value their mobile phone as highly as air, water, food and shelter.

What we can do, however, is create an environment or times in the day when houses become screen-free. 

Creating ‘critical’ times when it is imperative that the phone is switched off such as homework / study time or when family members visit can teach self-control but again, this will only work if trust is present and the reward is given. 

Open discussions about the pros and and cons of self-control are also a good means of valuing opinions and opening up a healthy non-confrontational dialogue.

In schools quoting statistics to young adults might also help them to understand the importance of self-control. For example, research by the London School of Economics found that schools that ban mobile phones over all achieved 32 per cent higher examination results from schools that don’t. 

Equally, quoting a further study found that students sitting an examination who could see their mobile phone scored on average 20 per cent fewer marks than students sitting the same test who couldn’t see their phone, might do the trick.