Two out of every five people in the U.S. regard themselves as "shy." Yet, shyness can be cured, says Dr. Philip Zimbardo, the nation's leading authority on shyness. With co-author Shirley Radl, Dr. Zimbardo presents a program for overcoming and preventing shyness from infancy to adulthood. The Shy Child is based on pioneering research conducted at the Stanford Shyness Clinic, including surveys of people in the U.S. and abroad, interviews with children, parents, teachers, and systematic experimental research that compared the behavior of shy to non-shy people. This book documents which parenting "style" encourages self-confidence in a child, helps with the problems of being shy and provides methods for building a child's trust and self-esteem. It explores the role that school plays in contributing to a child's shyness, and suggests ways to improve the quality of the classroom experience for every child. The Shy Child is the only book to provide an effective program for conquering shyness in childhood, before it has a chance to limit a child's options and determine the course of the child's life.