ABSTRACT
Academic failure and, to a lesser extent, lack of enthusiasm vis-à-vis their children’s studies, is one of the great parental preoccupations during most of the period of adolescence. Some adolescents replace their parents with another admired, but less incestuously dangerous, adult such as a teacher, a film or pop star, a sporting hero, etc. The influence of teachers at this stage is very important, particularly regarding academic failure, as shown in popular films such as The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Dead Poets Society, etc. An adolescent who is a model of virtue and an exemplary student, could be an adolescent who is failing to deal with some of the problems appropriate to his age: he has retreated into his studies in an attempt to keep his conflicts, similar to the frightened young child who hides under his blanket at night to protect himself from the nocturnal monsters he fears being attacked by.
