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`Hello, little man, what's your name?' I
asked a kiddy of about three years. `I'm not telling you.' he said,
scowling. The toy I offered him was thrown back at me.
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Aggressive behavior, of which this is, I
consider, a mild example, is usually due to inferiority complex, which
is unconscious and not to be confused with an inferiority feeling,
which might be a good quality involving modesty and incentive for
improvement. An inferiority complex can be caused by a number of things
including excessive restriction of a child's natural urge of
self-expression, setting too high a standard of behavior, or later, of
achievement at school, consciousness of a disability or anything which
sets the child apart from other children, or lack of affection from
parents.
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`Can you give me a clue about your name?'
I persevered. 'How does it start?' This found a chink in the little
boy's armor. He could not resist the temptation to show off his
new-found ability to spell. 'It begins with a D', he said, a little
petulantly. But by the time I had made a few wrong guesses and he had
finally spelled out his name for me, he had thawed out and become
friendly.
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