The Problems with Public Schools. Part 2. The Miss Diagnosis of ADHD.

I have spent some time discussing how public schools don't really do much for those who are naturally bright and who work hard. Another tragedy I see happening in public schools comes from my work as a social worker. I see it FAR TOO OFTEN, how quickly we as a society like to diagnose young boys with ADHD. The situation: A child is not staying with the class. I see this for two reasons, either the material is too easy or too difficult. If it is too easy, the child gets finished quickly and gets distracted with their free time. They may be chatty to their neighbors or they may get into daydreaming, which may be difficult to pull them back from. What does a spectator immediately default to? The child has ADHD. Time for ridilin. If the material is not too easy, it is usually too hard. If a child is not able to get the one on one attention and help that they need (and with the student to teacher ratio in the classroom, it’s impossible to give that attention), they are pretty much unlikely to just sit there and stare at their homework until it just magically clicks. They are likely to not try, and they get distracted by their friends talking or by some other kind of stimuli. This quickly gets them the same diagnosis--- the professionals tend to default to ADHD more often than not… Let us drug them into submission.

Public schools are highly designed to the way girls learn. Girls can sit still longer, they can focus on less abstract concepts and they are more emotional. Boys are more abstract and straight forward. And they cannot focus for extended periods of time, they get restless. Schools are tailored around the girls, and when the boys do not fit into the mold, they are labeled problems, called ADHD and 

 drugged to fit. The Doc, brilliant as she is, fit into these categories as a child. She once blogged about it:

When I was a child in school, my parents were called in each and every year to have a conference with the principal about my inattention, underachievement, and disruption of the class because I talked too much - all the things that would have me doused in Ritalin today.

I get way too many calls from mothers that their local school is threatening to drug their child (usually a son) with Ritalin to cure his ADHD, and thereby control his behavior.  I always tell them: NO. There are numerous reasons why children (and especially boys) won’t sit still and won’t pay attention.  Sometimes they’re bored, sometimes there is so much turmoil at home that they’re acting out, and sometimes they just have so much energy that they can’t sit still.  Schools have virtually thrown out recess breaks and physical education.  Sometimes, too, they’re just the sort of kids who need more one-on-one attention in order to keep focused.

It's a damn shame that as a society we jump so quickly to pop-psych labels and want to diagnose everyone we see and everyone we know with having something. Some 20-30 years ago it was Agoraphobia. Everyone was an agoraphobic. Now days everyone is bi-polar. Anyone who has an anger problem is bi-polar. Anyone who doesn’t accept responsibility for their imperfections uses the excuse as being bi-polar. And unfortunately, anytime a little boy is not able to sit still for more than 5 minutes, he is called ADHD by his parents and teachers. It's a damn shame.

There was a mental health professional named Michael White who practiced family therapy in and around the 1970’s until he died a couple years ago. He came up with a theory we call Narrative Therapy which basically says that he didn’t believe in mental illnesses. He believes that people create them so that those people have an excuse to behave a certain way. We create expectations for ourselves because of the labels we have given ourselves. I am definitely not about to adopt this theory as complete and total truth, but it is such a reflection of the self fulfilling prophecy that I absolutely believe it has some creed. I think that once a young kid has been labeled ADHD they will forever carry that label with them and use it as an excuse for the rest of their lives. Their parents will also enable them with that label. “Little Johnny or Janie can't do that because he/she has ADHD.” That is bologna if you ask me. Once our poor kids have this label, it stays with them forever and they never put the same expectations on themselves that they would have otherwise. I wish instead of labeling kids with ADHD, we worked more closely with them to understand concepts and challenge them on a level that is appropriate to them personally, not a group of 30 other kids their age. (All things that would happen in a homeschooling situation.)

****Now sure, ADHD is a real diagnosis. I am not saying that 100% of diagnoses are false. What I am saying though is that many of them are false, and the usual default treatment is drugs, not 1 on 1 attention. The Drake Institute in Los Angeles is one of the few places that I have ever heard of that will treat ADHD, and many other common learning setbacks without one single drug. Go check them out, especially before you put any of your kids on drugs. They are fabulous.