It becomes clear to their educators at this age, however,that a substantial number of adolescents fall far short of this norm. While many have a well-developed capacity to delay gratification,some fifteen- or sixteen-year-olds seem to have hardly developed this capacity at all; indeed,some seem even to lack the capacity entirely.These are the problem students. Despite average or better intelligence,their grades are poor simply because they do not work.They skip classes or skip school entirely on the whim of the moment. They are impulsive,and their impulsiveness spills over into their social life as well. They get into frequent fights,they become involved with drugs, they begin to get in trouble with the police. Play now,play later,is their motto.So the psychologists and psychotherapists are called in. But most of the time it seems too late. These adolescents are resentful of any attempt to intervene in their life style of impulsiveness,and even when this resentment can be overcome by warmth and friendliness and a nonjudgemental attitude on the part of the therapist,their impulsiveness is often so severe that it precludes their participation in the process of psychotherapy in any meaningful way. They miss their appointments. They avoid all important and painful issues. So usually the attempt at intervention fails,and these children drop out of school,only to continue a pattern of failure that frequently lands them in disastrous marriages,in accidents,in psychiatric hospitals or in jail.
Why is this?Why do a majority develop a capacity to delay gratification while a substantial minority fail, often irretrievably,to develop the capacity.The answer is not absolutely, scientifically known. The role of genetic factors is unclear. The variables cannot be sufficiently controlled for scientific proof. But most of the signs rather clearly point to the quality of parenting as the determinant.
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