The Myth of Concentration

My first encounter with concentration was when a yoga teacher asked me to close my eyes and concentrate on my breathing ONLY. Thirty seconds, and I was already thinking all kinds of thoughts. Far away from any type of concentration. If you have never practiced yoga, try this NOW and see how far you can go.

At an age about thirty years less then ours, are we over expecting from children? Is a child, at this tender age really supposed to be able to concentrate for long duration? Are we being unreasonable? Can’t we consider this as yet another skill the child will acquire as he grows up?

Now tell me, if I gave you an extremely boring task to do, will you be able to concentrate? Does your child show lot of concentration when playing with his car or gun or doll or computer game etc. In which case is his concentration low or the ability of the task to engage his attention low? So next time before you complain about the child’s concentration, lets see if the child first wants to complain about the interest level of the task.

So here is my proposition: Concentration is in direct proportion to the level of interest and involvement. Make the task interesting and fun and involving and I am hooked - something which we should learn from TV program producers. So we are not high or low on concentration - most of us (# see note on exceptions below) have an innate ability to concentrate - provided we WANT to concentrate on it.

Our brain is a goal oriented organism. Once it knows why and what is to be done, it is able to garner resources for the task. Often we just command our children to do something, without them having a clear idea of the objective or the Aim of the task. No wonder concentration wanders. If you can’t convince why I should do something, how can you expect me to concentrate on it? Can you push me to concentrate?

Also the Aim should be challenging for the child. But while challenging, it should be within ability. If it frustrating, its distracting. If Maths is when your child doesn’t concentrate, check if she knows how to solve the problem. If writing is what is distracting, check out if constructing sentences or spelling is frustrating her.

Research has shown that the human brain concentrates continuously best for twenty minutes. In a classroom check out how the first twenty minutes go like a flash and how the eyes turn towards the watch during the rest of the time. Research suggests that it is best to take a small break after every twenty minutes of concentrated work.

Which leads to planning of study or homework time into chunks of twenty minutes each, with breaks of five minutes in between. And lets add to relaxation in the breaks your getting involved with them – eating, singing, dancing – having some fun.

Can you ever concentrate when fear is on your mind? Specially with studies, often children have fear of making mistakes or getting scolding from parents or teachers.

Lastly, the other day my wife commented on a almost universal observation - "Its easy to feed our 11month old when he is playing with something." Isn't it funny, we train them in "distraction" when they are a toddler, but when they become five year old, we scold, "Don't play when you eat, concentrate on your food!"

Looks like we need to first meditate on concentration.
By Ratnesh Mathur
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# NOTE: While most children are able to develop concentration quite naturally, some children suffer from acute lack of concentration, which is clinically termed as “Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder” (ADD/ ADHD).
If you child is not able to concentrate at all for any task whatsoever, it is recommended that you first consult your pediatrician who may then recommend you to proper diagnostic tests. Medicine as well as exercises are available for the treatment. Internet is a rich source of information on the same. But tread with loads of caution - and never label the child!