Who Cares About Jamie? (1963)

[Music] children are such a joy no wonder people say what a shame they have to grow up but grow up they will and the work of growing up is the lifelong study director of The Children's Division of the menninger clinic as he grows to maturity the child confronts seemingly endless succession of hurdles work jobs that he must complete at each stage in his development if he fails to complete these jobs at the appropriate time and if he fails too often he may have difficulties in later periods of development he may become discouraged fearful angry resentful crippled in his capacity to give and take can love and be loved mental illness constitutes a number one health problem in our land it's a problem that we can never solve with treatment alone as in small poox and polio and other public health problems the ultimate solution is prevention now the major primary preventors of mental illness are parents and teachers and other adults that enter the child's life and influence his growth and development at every stage of growth the child needs understanding and he needs support so it is our privilege and responsibility to make a positive contribution to the prevention of mental illness by helping him work through each task he confronts and do it in such a way that we develop his capacity to cope with the stresses and strains that will plague him as long as he lives in this short film we seek to illustrate some of the kinds of hurdles the growing child must overcome and give some insight into how adults especially parents and teachers can help it's a very ordinary story about a few fairly typical hours in the life of a fairly typical boy a boy named [Music] Jamie who cares about Jamie a lot lot of people one person who cares is Jamie himself in fact he's his own major concern he's done a lot of growing since he came on Earth but there's still more growing to do much more and jamy is constantly self- impelled to get on with it yes there's a lot of work to Growing Up and Jamie still has so much of that work to do [Music] the setbacks can hurt and confuse it's not easy to accept failure not a bit easy [Music] [Music] that you Jamie what happened in school today did you oh Jamie how many times must I tell you to come home and change into play clothes before you get dirty I'm sorry mother has such a hard time keeping what's this Mr prer gave it to me no I took good you mean you stole it mhm oh Jamie Jamie won't you ever grow up yes Jamie will grow up that's exactly what he's doing exploring his environment experimenting in his relations with himself and with other people the work that lies ahead of him runs the gamut of all man's experience on Earth because it must provide a foundation on which to build an adult life of useful service he needs help in gaining from this particular experience added strength to hurdle the mix so let's turn back the clock and see what those adults who touch Jim's life this day might do here he is just released from school a package of pent up energy bursting with the need to see feel dig smell taste hear explore climb above all the need to be more grown up today than he was yesterday who cares about Jamie Miss Simmons does helping children to grow is her life's wor in the classroom and in the world outside now what can she do for Jamie oh dear Jamie shouldn't be trying that I should stop him no for those older boys watching he'd be humiliated to have me tell him he's not mad enough to do the trick let him try again he probably can't do the trick but at least I can help him prove his game enough to try Jamie there'll be another day and you make it then you know you will Jamie though is not so sure Mr Lombardi does not care about Jamie all he sees is some stupid kid trying to get himself killed is it reasonable to expect Mr Lombardi to be concerned about the effect of this on the boy probably not falling off the bar nearly getting yourself run over it's things like this that make growing up so rough life was so much easier for Jamie when he was little when he didn't expect as much from himself and neither did other [Music] people the policeman what opportunities he has to influence the growth of children for better or worse now what do you do about a boy who's just about to eat a worm bark at him frighten him flaunt your Authority you could try diversionary tactics steer him into some more constructive activity but maybe you can help him best by just standing there as a positive image of a grown-up man that's what it's all about Jim's yen to be a grownup man and let him save face by pretending he had no thought of eating that worm [Music] now won't mother be mad about the mud on those pants Jamie doesn't care or does he mother certainly cares Jamie knows the family rule he can change into older clothes and get as dirty as he likes but school clothes the can of oil stolen from Mr Palmer Jim's never done such a thing before what's gotten into him what made him do it those are good questions much better questions than who taught my boy to steal or what will the neighbors think Jamie won't be able to offer any profound psychological explanation in terms of frustration regression and aggressive behavior but mother can piece together enough of the story to realize is that the theft was a sudden impulsive act an act which baffles jimie most of all and which he's made no attempt to conceal well I'm really sorry things went wrong today Jamie but that's no excuse for what you did stealing is bad we don't take things that don't belong to us what are you going to do I wish I knew you've got to learn to your father will be home soon now go up to your room and wait for him he'll be mad we'll see no more talk now go on waiting till father comes home is mother passing the bun or does she truly sense this as a family crisis one which must be dealt with as a family she doesn't know she's only doing what seems right at the moment right not for herself but for [Music] Jamie who cares about Jamie father does home from work he's walking headlong into a problem anybody home problems are a common occupational hazard of child rearing but the problems are also so opportunities provided parents and children don't choose up sides but align themselves on the same side understanding what the problem really is and working it through oh I don't know I'm worried about Jamie he came home with this in his pocket what do you mean well I don't know apparently everything had been going wrong for him today so he walks into Mr Palmer and and steals it and I just don't know what we're going to do do he's just going to take it back Jamie no I down here I mean about Jamie stealing things oh no wait Jamie hasn't become a thief overnight he just well I'll tell you what it is it's bugging him he's just fighting back and I want him to fight back he just doesn't know who or where or what to fight I'm sorry Dad I know you are son and I don't think you wanted to do anything bad but justce that's what you did now you're going to have to take this back to Mr Palmer and apologize you mean alone no Jamie Not Alone by going with you your father is trying to say these things what you did was wrong your mother and I understand why you did it but we don't approve of what you did we'll stand by you though when you're in trouble and after dinner when father sent you to your room he's saying we want you to remember that what you did was wrong and a person who does wrong things gets punished for it more coffee well thank you dear I wonder have we done the right thing the answer is probably yes other parents might have responded quite differently and still been right the important thing is that they act constructive ly out of their own conviction as to what is best for the child and their family not from some abstract or theoretical notion about how Parents Ought to behave what was that he must have broke his L well that does it that boy's got to be punished oh now be careful be careful what do you mean be careful all right young man we've put up with just about all I'm sorry Dad it was an accident [Music] I know it was Jamie what's important punishing the boy further or establishing communication with him ever since school let out the world has been against him and no matter what jimie has tried to do about it it seems he's always done the wrong thing he knows it's his fault that's why he's mad at himself the trouble is he's just too little and he wants to be so grown up help me dad help me to grow up there are so many ways that dads and mothers teachers policemen and other adults can constructively help children along this Rocky Road to maturity making Jamie an equal partner in one washing the car can help restore his sense of personal worth and help him identify with his father as the image of the grown-up man he's struggling to become and how about taking the attitude that he's big enough to finish it on his own it probably won't be quite so good for the car but it can do a world of good for Jamie and what of the hurdles each child must conquer too many defeats too little understanding will grow in him like a cancer eating away his capacity to make normal adjustments to the stresses and strains of life to each of us is given the privilege of helping him over each hurdle in such a way that we strengthen his ability to overcome the next who cares about Jamie if we all care enough we can take a giant step toward wiping out mental illness [Music]