Attention and emotional security remain intertwined throughout childhood. What looks like a deficit of attention may be a preoccupation with something important to the child but hidden to the observing adult: the child’s emotional anxieties. The classroom behavior of ADD children, to give a common example, is frequently said to be disruptive. They seem to have more interest in interacting with their peers than in the material the teacher would have them study—which may simply mean that they are obsessed with trying to get their relationship needs met.
