by Polly Evans

Created on: May 21, 2007

I can relate to how perfectionism negatively impacts homework achievement as I am a 16 year old perfectionist. In the past two years a lot of my homework and coursework for my GCSEs has been negatively effected by my perfectionism.

Many children redo a piece of work over and over until they have to give it in. My worst problem was procrastination. I often knew that I wouldn't be able to complete a piece of work to perfectionism by the deadline set so I wouldn't do it at all until the last minute. I don't think that this was consciously done as it has repeatedly got me into lots of trouble. This is because, although I had an excuse of it not being perfect, I often couldn't stand it that way, which meant that I missed deadlines. I'd end up redoing it over and over again anyway.

Another problem many perfectionists have is they get hung up on the small details. Things such as handwriting not being as the child wants it, or making a tiny mistake which causes the child to redo the whole thing. Personally I have had a big problem with creases. I can't stand it when something gets "ruined" by creases. Many children are effected by small details such as that. Not only small details involved with their work, but also their working environment, little annoying noises for example can really put a perfectionist child off their work.

A perfectionist child can also develop feelings of not being good enough and being overly critical of themselves. They often feel like failures if their work isn't of an A-grade standard and that what they do is never good enough. If their work is of an exceptionally high standard they will still feel that they could have done better, could have pushed themselves that bit further.

I do not believe that educational psychologists are needed as personally I believe I know all about the condition and I know that perfectionism isn't logical and yet I still am a perfectionist. However, it can be controlled and trained and put to good use. There are many things parents can do to help a perfectionist child with their homework and also generally:
1. Help plan things to precision as soon as an assignment is set - make the perfect plan. No perfectionist would want to ruin a perfect plan. Make sure the child isnt intimated by what's expected of them - break it down!
2. Be a model of imperfection, let them know it's normal to make mistakes.
3. Don't criticize! The child will take it to heart and they will feel like they're not good enough.
4. Don't alienate the child, let them know that it's OK! After all, perfectionists do well in life as they are naturally high achievers.
5. Talk to their teacher about it. It may help explain the child's behavior and make the teacher aware of how to treat the child.

It is hard to be a perfectionist child. They often have a low opinion of themselves and what they can achieve and think others also think this of them. They can easily frustrate themselves when something isn't right. They are obsessive, often staying up all night to complete work, and then being too tired the next day to give it in. They often feel misunderstood and isolated from other people. It is the parents duty to explain to and reassure the child. Perfection is a goal that can never be reached, all the child gets from trying to reach perfection is disappointment. There is no such thing as perfection!

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