The Murray State News

Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: News

James Comer

When children do poorly in school, some blame their lack of dedication, focus or proper behavior. Yale professor James Comer, in his lecture Friday, pointed the finger at parents and the school system.
"Many of these so-called 'behavior problems' we're seeing are a result of schools being organized and managed poorly," Comer said to an audience of professionals and education students gathered in Alexander Hall.
Comer, a Maurice Falk professor of child psychiatry at Yale University, stressed the importance proper education from both parents and teachers plays in determining a child's future success.
Initially an intern for a general practitioner of medicine, Comer said he was first exposed to children who were bright but not doing well in school.
"At the time, the theory was you were either born with the intelligence to succeed or not," Comer said. "It was not based on the quality of your upbringing."
He began the Comer School Development Program to combat the problem.
At the time, only two schools in New York City were interested in the program. Comer said the principal at one of the schools, after seeing the success at the other, predicted success wouldn't be repeated at his own school because the children there were from single-parent, multi-family housing complexes, which studies and statistics showed diminished a child's desire and ability to learn.
"That right there showed the dangers of research when people only take pieces and don't link them together to find a solution," Comer said.
The two schools, at the time the worst-behaved in New York City, eventually became part of the top five achieving schools in the entire city.
Growing up in East Chicago, Comer said he was fortunate to be raised by education-touting parents in what he called a "well-functioning church family." He said although they were sometimes ridiculed for their encouragement, his parents never stopped supporting their children's endeavors.
"I once said, 'I want to be a doctor when I'm a big man,'" Comer said. "My parents responded by buying me a toy doctor's kit."
Comer also recalled an early encouragement to express his ideas, but only in a constructive manner.
"Something would spark an after-dinner conversation. We could talk about what we wanted, but the rule was that we couldn't fight," Comer said. "I would think ahead of time of how to shape my argument so that I could win, but not fight."
Comer said trips to museums and libraries, lots of reading and parental interaction result in children who develop hopes and dreams.
Said Comer: "By meeting kids' needs for development, academics, social interactions and behavior improved both personally and for schools."
Jodi Keen can be reached at jodi.keen@murraystate.edu.

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