My young client, Mark, experienced a common problem. Elementary school was not easy for him. He could never keep track of all the papers, and teachers were always scolding him for the messy appearance of the work he did manage to hand in, often a day or two late. His teachers were charmed, however, by his eagerness and lively interest, especially in class discussions. Report cards reflected his teachers' genuine liking for Mark and his parents were satisfied.

High school presented a new challenge. Mark's parents were astonished when his grades began to slide. He couldn't sustain the effort of five major courses at one time. If he applied his attention to one course, he would experience failure in the other four.

His parents accused him of taking the easy way out, rushing to complete work as fast as possible and just not caring enough. Mark came to believe he was "lazy." Mark's father, who had been labeled "lazy" as a child, saw history repeating itself. Desperate to save his child, he tried various "carrot and stick" techniques to remedy the situation. They were ineffective.

Mark, his parents, and teachers despaired when they could find no way to motivate this once good student, no means of transforming the "lazy" child into an industrious one. No solution was apparent. Things were going down hill fast.

The key to resolving the problem rested in the belief that every child would do well if he could. Once they abandoned the myth of "the lazy child," they discovered a more believable cause for Mark's disenchantment with school.

As an educational counselor who has seen many varieties of the "lazy" child, from all backgrounds and families, my first recommendation was that Mark have a full diagnostic evaluation. The testing revealed a severe deficit in organizational skills, while confirming that Mark was still the eager learner and thoughtful participant he had always been.

Steps were taken to reduce Mark's course load, limit his choices, and structure his day. An academic therapist taught Mark specific and concrete ways to organize his schoolwork to compensate for his difficulty. With supportive reinforcement from his parents, Mark's grades improved, as did his self-concept and, as a rewarding by-product, harmony was restored in the family.

We all know that learning, for adults and children, is almost impossible when one is hungry, cold, tired, frustrated, angry, frightened, or sad. Many of the children in school today are experiencing one or more of these feelings, and these feelings can act as roadblocks to learning.

Understanding, intervention, and prevention are the tools we can use, as parents, teachers, and therapists, to free children from these obstacles and to restore their natural curiosity and inherent joy of learning. It is important to remember that school is difficult for some children. Reading, writing, remembering, organizing, spelling, figuring, just thinking and concentrating are all difficult, complex tasks.

The use of the term "lazy" can be destructive. Tagged as "lazy," an individual, whether adult or child, feels debased, defeated, and hurt. Lack of success in school is frustrating enough without the added humiliation of this judgement.

In dealing with your child's poor grades, look for a cause that would explain the loss of curiosity and energy that flourished in early childhood. Do this too, if you or your spouse were labeled "lazy" in school, and have difficulty reconciling that idea with your life now. Before accepting the label, take the more challenging route of evaluating the situation, employing professional, qualified resources as needed.

Remember, the key to resolving the problem rests with the belief that every child would do well in school if he could. I work with families to dispel the myth of "the lazy child." Through appropriate, professional intervention, we uncover a more logical reason for the problem.

The first step in overcoming the problem is understanding the problem by giving it the correct name.