And no matter how hard it is for an adult to stay committed to one mental road, it is far harder for an adolescent, who has an immature frontal cortex and therefore limited ability to say no to off-ramps. James described children like this: “Sensitiveness to immediately exciting sensorial stimuli characterizes the attention of childhood and youth. . . . the child seem[s] to belong less to himself than to every object which happens to catch his notice.” Overcoming this tendency to flit around is “the first thing which the teacher must overcome.” This is why it is so important that schools go
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