The Shy Child: A Parent's Guide to Preventing and Overcoming Shyness from Infancy to Adulthood [Paperback]

This fine reprinting (by Malor Books) rescues "The Shy Child" for the many readers who contacted me about its availabity after it was put out of print by a previous publisher (in a cost-cutting institutional move). This book follows up on my earlier popular work, "Shyness: What it is, What to do about it." Whereas the research foundation, exercises, and advice I gave there was based on young adults and those upward in age, this book completes the earlier parts of the life cycle, from college age down to preschoolers. The information and ideas in "The Shy Child" came from several years' worth of observations that I and my co-author, Shirley Radl, made in schools at every grade level, from preschool, elementary, middle, high, up to college, supplemented with interviews, research, and workshops with teachers, parents, and students. We try to convey in accessible prose what we have learned about the meaning of shyness in the lives of our children, and what ways the negative impact of shyness can be reduced, minimized, and overcome through a variety of wise strategies and simple tactics. But we propose further that new efforts be directed at preventing shyness from taking hold of the child's life, some of which involve awareness of how parents, teachers, and institutions contribute to the problem and what they can do differently to create prosocial alternatives that make every child a winner. The response of earlier readers has been very enthusiastic, some even reporting "miracle" changes in their shy children, as can be witnessed in the ABC-TV prize-winning video, "The Pain of Shyness." My current concern is the steadily increasing prevalence of shyness in our society over the past decade from a 40% level of those reporting themselves to be currently, dispositionally shy to over 50% now. I think the technology revolution is contributing to this epidemic of shyness by making young people more socially passive and by substituting virtual social reality for the indispensable learning and engagement that comes from real world face-to-face reality. Making people our number one priority is a first step in a new agenda for combating the insidious inroads that electronic technology is and will be having on our interpersonal relationships. I hope you enjoy what you will learn in "The Shy Child, share that knowledge with friends and relatives, and put into practice some of its recommendations. Phil Zimbardo, Professor of Psychology, Stanford University