Rejection: Causes And Conditioning Factors

When the child suffers a rejection, we tend to point the finger at him, holding him the main culprit. But there are many other aspects to keep in mind, both personal, family, and also cultural. 

In case of rejection, we always tend to point the finger at the child, considering him the one and only responsible. But there are many other aspects to keep in mind, both personal, family, and cultural.

It is not right to place all the responsibility on the pupil, because when a student fails, educators, parents and even the state also play a fundamental role in his “scholastic failure”.

Below we will analyze the most important aspects of rejection.

Causes of rejection

• Lack of motivation or interest on the part of the pupil. It rarely happens in primary school pupils, but it happens where parents do not play their role of mentor and guide. Teens can easily be tempted by unhealthy distractions if they can’t count on someone to show them which way to go.
• Mental deficit.  It concerns a minimum group of students who do not meet the minimum requirements of the education system. Only 2% of them show defects in the ability to process concepts, operations or other types of data.
• Learning problems. Dyslexia or dyscalculia are common disorders among school-age children, and contribute to a high number of failures.

• Poor eyesight.  Strange as it may seem, vision problems are the source of a high percentage of educational frustrations.
• Family and socio-cultural context. A person’s living conditions affect their academic or work performance. However, according to UNICEF, this does not mean that children of better-performing parents perform better. There are studies that contradict this theory.
• Mistakes of educators. As in all professions and jobs, there are good teachers and less good teachers. The clarity with which knowledge is transmitted, the way the child is treated and the management of the class group by a teacher mean that the results obtained are better or worse. However, this element should be considered secondary, given that in itself it is not sufficient to cause a student to fail.

Conditioning factors

In addition to the causes outlined above, there are also other factors that affect the proper development of the educational process.

First we must consider the emotional conditions developed by a boy. They include interpersonal relationships (with family and peers), emotional balance and patience shown.

Likewise, the way in which the boy is encouraged to succeed in school within the four walls of the house also affects . As parents we need to lead by example, accompany him through this stage, be empathetic and appreciate his positive results. Students need to know that school is not a “waste of time” as everyone has sometimes thought. Instead, show them how education will help them secure a better future.

Another lesson we parents need to learn is not to measure learning by grades. School is much more than that: it is learning to live together, socialize, reason and solve problems. We need to perceive education as a whole, not as a statistic.

Finally, an element that undoubtedly plays a role is the socio-economic conditions in which this education is provided. According to the study The measure of the soul. Because Inequalities Make Societies More Unhappy , by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett,  there is a very close link between a community’s level of poverty and the academic success of its children. 

Failure statistics

Although some of these data also include pupils who have dropped out of school, there are surveys that are useful in defining the current landscape.

Some studies by official organizations indicate that in Italy the number of failures is decreasing compared to Spain, for example, where the number of failures reaches 20%, a figure exceeded only by Portugal.

The following are Malta (19.8%) and Romania (19.1%). Sweden, on the other hand, shows an enviable 7%. The same is true in Croatia (2.8%), Slovenia (5%), Cyprus (5.3%) and Poland (5.3%). Countries with the lowest pass rate include Denmark and France.