Are Shy Kids at a Disadvantage at School?

For parents of shy kids, the first day of school may be fraught with extra apprehension. Will my child make friends? Will my child fit in, or be left out in the cold, socially and academically?

Published in the Journal of School Psychology, a new study from the University of Miami (UM) unfortunately confirms our worst fears: painfully shy preschoolers are "at greater academic risk than their chatty and boisterous peers."

Having followed a group of more than 4,000 preschoolers through the first year of school, researchers found that children exhibiting withdrawn behaviour not only started out with the lowest academic skills, they also reported the slowest gains in academic learning skills during the year, struggling to engage in the classroom.
 
"Everybody wants their children to be ready for kindergarten, to know their ABCs and to be able to count, but they sometimes don't understand that having social-emotional readiness is equally important," says assistant professor of psychology at UM College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and the study's lead author, Rebecca J. Bulotsky-Shearer.
 
So it seems the squeaky wheel ready does get the oil, with boisterous and loud children benefiting from the teacher's attention, while introverted children, according to Elizabeth R. Bell, doctoral candidate in developmental psychology, at UM and co-author of the study, "tend to disappear within the classroom."

While not necessarily disruptive, the shy child risks getting overlooked and dismissed by teachers.

Researchers hope their findings spark further training and professional development for teachers, helping them identify children needing help in specific areas. Overall, older kids and girls tended to be better adjusted in class, showed fewer behavioral problems, and exhibited higher levels of social literacy, language and math skills.
 
Parents of shy children: do you worry about how their introversion affects their school life? Should we try to push a shy to become more extroverted, or is there no sense in trying to change a zebra's stripes?