孩子的自制力决定未来成功与否(图)
Niklas Capps getsready for recess at
Clara Barton Center for Children in Cabin John, Md., Feb. 11.Teachers at the school focus on promoting self-control。
2月11日，尼格拉斯·卡普斯准备在马里兰州卡班·约翰的克拉拉·巴顿儿童中心休假。学校的老师们正在致力于提高孩子们的自我控制能力。
Self-control keeps us from eating a whole bagof chips or from running up the credit card. A new study says thatself-control
makes the difference between getting a good job or going to
jail - and welearn it in preschool。
自我控制能力防止我们吃掉一整袋的薯条或者把信用卡刷爆。一项新研究指出，我们在学龄前学习的自我控制能力决定了将来是得到一份好工作还是去坐牢。
"Children who had the greatestself-control in
primary
school andpreschool ages were most likely to have fewer health problems whenthey reached their 30s," says Terrie Moffitt, a professor ofpsychology at Duke University and King's College London。
"在小学和学前年龄时就具有极佳自控能力的孩子们非常可能在三十多岁时的健康问题较少。"，杜克大学和伦敦大学国王学院的心理学教授泰利·莫菲特说。
Moffitt and a team of researchers
studied agroup of 1,000 people born in New Zealand in 1972 and 1973,tracking them from birth to age 32. The new study, published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the best evidence yet onthe payoff for learning self-discipline early on。
莫菲特和一组研究人员研究了1972年和1973年在新西兰出生的1000人，从出生跟踪他们直到三十二岁。发表在美国国家科学院学报上的这项新研究，是因早早学习自律而收益的最好证据。
The researchers define
self-control ashaving skills like conscientiousness, self-discipline and
perseverance, as well as being able toconsider the consequences of actions in makingdecisions。
研究人员将自我控制能力定义为自我觉悟、自我约束和毅力，以及能够在决策中考[微博]虑行动的后果。
The children who struggled withself-control aspreschoolers were three times as likely to have problems as youngadults. They were more prone to have a criminal record;more likely to be poor or have financial problems; and they weremore likely to be single parents。
在学龄前无法自控的儿童出问题的几率是成年后无法自控的人的三倍。他们更容易有犯罪纪录，贫穷或有经济困难的可能性更大，更有可能成为单亲家长[微博]。
This study doesn't prove that thelack of self-control in childhood caused theseproblems, but the large size of the study, and the fact that itfollowed one group of people over many years, makes a good case foran effect。
本研究并不能证明自童年缺乏自我控制能力就会造成这些问题，但这项研究规模之大以及多年来追踪一组人的事实，是一个效果很好的例子。
Teaching Control
教习自制
Economists and public healthofficials want to know whether teaching self-control couldimprove a population's physical and financial healthand reduce crime. Three factors appear to be key to a person'ssuccess in life: intelligence, family's socioeconomic
status andself-control.Moffitt's study found that self-control predicted adultsuccess, even after accounting for the participants' differences in
social status andIQ。
经济学家和公共卫生官员希望知道是否教习自我控制能提高人们物质和财政的健康并且减少犯罪。三个因素可能是成功的关键：智力、家庭的社会经济地位和自我控制能力。莫菲特的研究发现，即使参与者具有不同的社会地位和智商，自我控制能力预示了成年时的成功。
Cathie Morton, a teacher at the ClaraBarton Center for Children, leads the kids in a clapping exerciseto signal thatit is time to shift gears and start cleaningup。
凯西·莫顿是克拉拉·巴顿儿童中心的老师，他以拍掌为信号，教孩子们改变节目并开始清理场地。
IQ and social status are hard to change. But Moffittsays there is evidence that self-control can belearned。
智商和社会地位很难改变。但莫菲特说，有证据表明，自我控制可以习得。
"Identical twins are not identical onself-control,"she says. "That tells us that it is something they have learned,not something they have inherited."
"同卵双胞胎的自我控制能力并不一样，"她说，"这告诉我们，这是他们学到的东西，而不是遗传来的。"
Teaching self-control has becomea big focus forearly childhood education. At the Clara Barton Center for Childrenin Cabin John, Md., it starts with expecting a 4-year-old to hangup her coat without being asked。
教习自我控制已经成为幼儿教育的一大焦点。马里兰州卡班·约翰的克拉拉·巴顿儿童中心从教4岁的孩子自觉自动的挂起外套开始。
Director Linda Owen says the childrenare expected to be responsible for a series of actions when theyarrive at school each morning, without help from Momand Dad. The children sign in, put away their lunches, hang uptheir own clothes, wash their hands before they can play, and thenchoose activities in the classroom。
董事长琳达·欧文说，每天早晨到校后，孩子们应该不在父母的帮助下对自己的一系列行为负责。孩子们签到，收起午餐，挂上衣服，洗手，之后才可以玩耍，然后选择课堂活动。
"All those things help withself-management," Owen says。
"所有这些都有助于自我管理，"欧文说。
Mediating Conflict
调解冲突
Of course, not all 4-year-olds areready to manage that, so the classroom is loaded with cues andclues to help the preschoolers make their own decisions and beresponsible。
当然，并非所有4岁的孩子都能够做到这些，所以教室里到处是帮助学龄前儿童作出自己的决定并负责的暗示和线索。
Liya Pomfret and Rowan Miller demonstrate
how they use the "solutions kit" to resolve conflicts。
丽雅·庞弗雷特及罗文·米勒展示了他们如何使用"解决方案工具包"来解决冲突。
A series of seven photos over the
sink shows thecorrect sequence for hand washing. A "solutionskit" poster
shows techniques the children can use to resolve disagreements themselves, likesharing or playing with another toy. The two teachers give thechildren multiple cues when it's time to clean up:Lights flash, abell rings and the children clap and count to 100. That makes iteasier to switch gears without ameltdown。
水槽底一系列的七张照片显示了洗手的正确顺序。一个"解决方案工具包"海报显示了孩子可以利用它独立解决分歧的技巧，比如与他人分享或者玩其他玩具。到打扫的时间的时候，两位老师会给孩子们多个提示：闪灯、铃声、孩子们鼓掌并数到100。这使得变换活动更容易，而且不会乱套。1
If a child has problems withself-management, the teachers make a customized "visual cue" card, withphotos of the four play choices in the room, to make the decision
easier。
如果孩子不能自我管理，老师在房间里挂上四种游戏选择做的照片作为特定的"视觉提示"牌帮助他们更容易地做出决定。
And teachers Cathie Morton andDaniela Capbert don't just supervise - they're in the thick of thechildren's play so that when the inevitable conflicts arise, they can
redirect
the children into other activities or help them talk through theirfeelings。
像凯西·莫顿和丹尼拉·凯普贝尔特不只是监督——他们也会参与到儿童游戏中，当不可避免的冲突发生时，他们可以让孩子们做其他活动，或帮助孩子通过交谈交流感受。
When things do go wrong, there areconsequences. Timeouts and apologies don't mean much to children at this age, Owensays, so the teachers try to match consequences to the deed. When one ofthe children accidentally knocks over a 2-foot-tall tower of blocksthat several children had spent half the morning building, theteachers ask the builders what should happen next. "Help fix it,"one boy says. And, with a little prompting from the adults, they all
pitch in andrebuild。
事情做错了，必然会有后果。罚坐冷板凳和道歉对这个年龄段的儿童并不是很重要，欧文说，因此老师会尝试匹配行为后果。当一个孩子意外地碰倒几个孩子花了半个上午才搭建的两英尺高的积木时，老师问搭积木的孩子们下一步会发生什么。"帮助修复它，"一个男孩说。而且，成人给他们一些鼓励后，孩子们都开始加入重新搭建。2
Self-Control At Home
在家自制
Parents can help their children learnself-control.Mary Alvord is a clinical psychologist inSilver Spring, Md., whose new book, Resilience BuilderProgram for Children and Adolescents, teaches self-control
strategies. Take small steps, she says. For example, preschoolerscan learn that they don't always get what they want immediately;they may need to wait for that treat。
家长可以帮助孩子学会自我控制。玛丽·阿尔沃德马里兰州银泉的一位临床心理医生，她的新书《儿童和青少年韧性培养计划》教导自我控制策略。采取小步骤，她说，例如，幼儿可以知道他们并不总是立即就能得到想要的东西，他们可能需要等待饭菜。
"I call it Grandma's rule," Alvordsays. "No dessert until you finish your dinner."
"我称之为奶奶的法则，"阿尔沃德说，"用完晚餐前不会有甜点。"
Parents can help teenagers learnself-control bymaking sure the family has clear rules for things like curfew orfinishing homework before they have screen time. Teenager who have problemswith impulsivity may benefit from special driving classes thatlet them practice controlling the car in difficult conditions on aracetrack. For all teens, clear rules such as curfews help them
regulate
themselves。
通过确定家庭对某些事有明确的规定，比如宵禁令或者完成作业后才能看电视，父母可以帮助青少年学习自我控制。那些容易冲动的少年有可能会受益于特殊驾驶课程，让他们练习在困难的条件下控制赛道上的车。对于所有的青少年来说，像宵禁这样明确的规定可以帮助他们自律。
Though self-control can be improved throughout life,Moffitt says the earlier children can learn these skills ofself-discipline and perseverance, the better. "The later youwait in life to try to learn self-control skills, the more problems you haveto reverse and
overcome."
虽然自制能力的学习提高贯穿于整个人生，莫菲特说，儿童学习自律和毅力的技巧越早越好。"在生活中尝试学习自我控制能力拖得越晚，要扭转和克服的问题越多。"
All the more reason to start pickingup blocks when you're very young。
所以，在你还小时，更要捡起那积木。