How does Percy’s attitude toward school and emotional management impact Percy’s choices and behavior? How could he improve? 

ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) is a common condition experienced by a number of people—particularly specifying on young people/adolescents in academic years–and it impacts how they behave. Percy’s choices and behaviors are impacted by ADHD, in terms of his attitude toward school and emotional management; this situation could be improved with the help of mindfulness practices, his teachers, and relevant tools and apps. ADHD is often revealed with hyperactivity symptoms that are associated with self-control. As a result, individuals with ADHD often experience difficulties in terms of regulating their emotions. These challenges may greatly impact such an individual’s well-being, self-esteem, and school performance/attitude.

On page 5 of the book, “The Lightning Thief”, where Percy shouts out in the museum to Nancy Bobofit, “Will you shut up!?”, and later noted that the statement “came out louder than I meant”. Since blurting out things in class is classified as one of the hyperactivity symptoms—based on the Newsela article (Neurodiversity: A different view of ADHD) —ADHD was clearly shown to be a major cause for his inappropriate behavior, in the social setting of the museum. Furthermore, getting easily distracted and being unable to focus/pay attention, is another symptom that ADHD suffers experience. This affects Percy quite drastically and this can be seen when he says, “What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years” (p. 38).

Furthermore, on page 7, Percy had stated that “Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I have never made above a C- in my life”. In these lines, we see how Percy says in a very matter of fact way that ADHD appears to be one of the main factors that impacted his learning and behavior in school. In addition, Percy exhibits very low self-esteem, resulting in a negative spiral in terms of how he sees himself and making him believe that he is incapable of getting good results. This has gradually caused Percy to establish a habitual negative and/or resentful attitude towards school. Further evidence of his lack of interest can be seen when his English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asks him, “for the millionth time why he was too lazy to study for spelling test”, Percy called him an “old sot” (pg.17). Based on research from the website, “Thriving with ADHD” states that frustration for individuals with ADHD is likely to result in verbal and physical aggression; Percy’s behavior fits this pattern. An individual’s emotional response can be problematic in that it can have a negative impact on social relationships and including attitude toward school.

Nonetheless, Percy’s choices and behaviors could still be improved. While emotional agility is one of the strongest indicators of success in business and life; this ability to self-regulate is influenced by whether or not an individual has been eating well, getting enough sleep, exercising, and participating in stress-relieving activities, etc. On top of that, emotional mastery entails a self-awareness where individuals not only recognize their emotions but also realize how these emotions impact their behaviors. Thus, to improve emotional management, Percy can first start off with practicing mindfulness; it is a proven way to gain perspective on self-feelings. As Percy begin developing an awareness of his feelings, he will then be able to pay closer attention to how he is behaving, and how his behavior is influencing/impacting others. Meanwhile, according to the Newsela article, “people who have ADHD could be very focused when something interests them”. Percy’s teachers could try figuring out what interests Percy and help him set up a study plan; especially towards supporting him in the areas of his interest. This action could help him develop a more positive attitude towards school. The knock-on effect is that it would help with how he relates to the different persons he comes into contact with. Moreover, as a matter of fact, there are as well many tools and apps to help someone get organized (cited from the Newsela article). Since people could be easily distracted during certain times or activities, and especially people who have ADHD–as an example: Percy–a variety of different apps and tools are designed to help. These sorts of tools can help people keep track of their time, build better habits, and improve work efficiency, which will greatly help improve one’s self-management skills.

Percy had made a range of choices relevant to school behavior/performance, in chapters 1-3. All above explanation concludes that ADHD impacts Percy on his emotional management and his attitude toward school, with symptoms including blurting out things in a social setting, low self-esteem, verbal and physical aggression. He could accordingly improve these behaviors with mindfulness practices–which helps enhance his self-awareness–, a study plan, and relevant tools/apps.