The film shows how the emotional development of children is affected by parental attitudes and by competition for parental attention. Jamie in this film is a ten-year-old, an age when it hurts if you fail to win a parent's approval, or if you must give way because you are the youngest in the family. Parents who want to know what goes on inside a child's mind will find Jamie, and the family of which he is part, a provocative, revealing study.