Fall may not yet be in the air, but school definitely is. Camps and family vacations are ending, and children are queuing up in pediatric waiting rooms, coming in for school and sports physicals, as well as for the inevitable minor injuries and illnesses of the summer.
As children excitedly recount their summer activities and anticipate the upcoming school year with a mixture of hope and dread, another emotion permeates the pediatrician’s office: courage.
Aristotle called courage the first of human qualities because it is “the quality which guarantees the others.” Being a kid requires a modicum of courage every fall, for he or she is beginning something new. Some transitions are small — a new teacher — while others are dramatic — starting preschool, high school or a new job. From the child’s view, the comforts of summer are past and every new beginning is fraught with at least some trepidation. Parents may treasure the first day of school with commemorative photos, but those photos often capture the uncertainty of young children or the annoyance of older ones.
