The habit of gnawing a pen or a pencil
A lot of people, especially nonmanual workers gnaw a pen or a pencil. This habit is also inherent in children at school and students of universities. This habit is also harmful as well as other pernicious habits, but it is socially acceptable. People rarely condemn it and this fact makes it very difficult to get rid of. Besides, though it is unhealthy, it is much less bad than smoking and alcoholism and thus people often don't have enough incentives to refuse doing it. It raises a question whether it is a problem at all. It depends on your attitude to it. Let's at first consider the reason of its emergence.
The point is that in the process of our development we pass through different stages, the first of them is an oral stage. And the first reflex which every child gets from its birth is a sucking reflex. When a child sucks, gnaws something and keeps things in the mouth, it gets the most primitive comfort on the reflexive level.
Some people preserve this habit and practice it all their lives. What for do they do it? For many people, especially schoolchildren and students it is the best way to relax and divert their attention from anxiety and uneasiness during various tests, exams and so on. A person usually gnaws a pencil or a pan unconsciously, and can even fail to notice it. These people can't often believe that they gnawed their pencil a few minutes before when they are told about it by their colleagues.
If you have this habit and want to get rid of it, you should follow your actions very carefully. If this doesn't help, you may powder the top of your pen or pencil with a handful of pepper. It may seem brutal, but you must admit that it will be very effective. It will give you an opportunity to get rid of this habit very quickly. Later when you will try to gnaw your pen or pencil again, you will be stopped by your subconscious fear of burning your mouth, even in case there will be no pepper on the top of your pencil. Try to do it and you will forget about your problem forever.
If your child gnaws its pencil, don't resort to these harsh measures. Child's psyche is extremely vulnerable and it will consider it a humiliation. Follow your child, and when it does it, simply divert its attention, make remarks and explain to it, that this habit can be dangerous for its health, because by means of gnawing a pencil it can swallow pathogenic microbes. The main thing here is not to overdo, because your child can develop phobias in its mind and become afraid of unimaginable microbes.