Leaving the Shell : Programs Give Students Better Chance at Success by Helping Them Overcome Shyness

VENTURA — Desiree Cadiz was so shy in the third grade that a teacher at Saticoy School in Ventura recommended she be placed in a program designed to coax quiet pupils out of their shells.

Now a fifth-grader, 10-year-old Desiree recently completed six performances as the star of her school’s Christmas play, “The Wizard of Oz.” The role required her to sing, dance and recite lines before 600 students and their parents.

“She’s come a long way,” said Desiree’s mother, Debra Cadiz. “They perceived her as shy and she was sort of shy.”

Once ignored as a harmless personality trait that children eventually outgrow, educators and mental health experts increasingly are viewing shyness as a possible obstacle to academic success.

Children who are timid have a more difficult time making friends and may feel left out on the playground, said Jeanne Surber, a psychologist for the Ventura Unified School District. That, in turn, can damage their self-esteem and cause them to fall behind in their studies, Surber said.

And while generations of withdrawn children have gone on to become competent, self-assured adults, researchers say a bad start in kindergarten through the third grade can contribute to troubling behaviors later in life.

A 1987 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that poor school adjustment in the primary grades was one of 12 risk factors associated with substance abuse, truancy and delinquency in older children.

At Saticoy, 200 students have entered the program since it began in 1992, Saticoy Principal Nancy Bradford said. It has become so popular among students--and parents--that the state agreed this year to expand the mental-health initiative to five other elementary schools in the Ventura district.

Besides Saticoy, the program now is available to the 1,850 students at Arnaz, Lincoln, Pierpont, Sheridan Way and Juanamaria schools, officials said.

Similar offerings also are in place in the Conejo Valley Unified, Moorpark Unified, Pleasant Valley Elementary and Santa Paula Elementary school districts, said Victoria Bradley, a psychologist with the Ventura County Department of Mental Health who trains aides to run the programs.

Although some students are also referred to the program for exhibiting aggressive or inattentive behavior, shyness is the most common reason they land in the program, Bradford said.

The steps involved are deceptively simple, Bradley said. Students are pulled out of class once a week for 12 weeks to spend 30 minutes one-on-one with an adult.

The aides, or “Special Friends,” as some schools call them, are instructed to never give direction to the child. The adult just sits with the child in a room filled with toys, games, crafts and other attractions.

If the student asks to play a game or draw a picture, the adult assists. If the pupil wants to talk, the aide talks. If the children does not want to play or talk, the adult does not attempt to encourage them to interact.

The complete control given the student often takes them by surprise, said Joanne Bardini, a Special Friend in the program at Saticoy.

“It’s amazing,” Bardini said. “Some won’t say a word for weeks. But then, around the sixth week, something happens. They start to trust me and begin to open up.”

Bradford said she too is perplexed as to how the process works.

“The only thing I can think of is they begin to trust an adult,” she said. “It’s very rare that you ever give 30 minutes of uninterrupted, undivided attention to a child.”

Competency testing shows that the majority of pupils who enter the program benefit, Bradford said. They become less quiet and develop positive traits, such as assertiveness, enhanced social skills and an ability to focus on schoolwork, according to test results.

Nine-year-old Angie Moug, a Saticoy fourth-grader, said she has a lot of friends now and often raises her hand in class to answer questions. But that was not always the case, Angie said.

“When I was in kindergarten, I was really shy,” she said. “I practically didn’t say anything all year.”

Having an adult to talk with made her feel special, said Angie, who completed the course two years ago.

“When I wanted to play ‘Candyland,’ we did. It was kind of fun to have an adult to play with at school.”

School officials have also had good results with children who were formerly inattentive or impulsive, Bradley said. A small number of students--those with more deep-seated psychological problems--don’t do as well and are referred to the county for more intensive therapy, she said.

But for those who respond, the program works wonders, she said. It is as if the children recognize something inside of themselves and decide to change, Bradford said.

“Some shy kids don’t come out of their shell until high school,” she said. “Why not get them in kindergarten?”