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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (181894)	1/29/2004 6:35:26 PM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574569

Ted, re: I can't tell you how normal its become to have a guy be ADD or special ed. and to be on Ritalin or the latest schiesse that they've come up with to drug kids. I wonder what's going on as well. When I was a kid (admittedly a long time ago), sure we had a few kids that appeared hyperactive, maybe one per class. Now it seems like it's an epidemic. Is it our society, is it some chemical in the environment? Or is it just increased diagnosis (I doubt that). I'm have no clue, but I think is worth a very serious study. This isn't political (so probably OT). I wonder if other countries are experiencing the same problem. John

To: tejek who wrote (181894)	2/1/2004 9:17:23 PM
From: Amy J	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574569

Hi Tejek, RE: "I can't tell you how normal its become to have a guy be ADD or special ed. and to be on Ritalin or the latest schiesse that they've come up with to drug kids.......So if you're wondering why there are no white guys in Berkeley's computer.......well Ritalin may be the reason." --------- Agree with you. In high school and 8th grade, I babysat an ADD boy that appeared to be more of a victim of society's inability to let a rambunctious child be rambunctious. There was no venue for exercise for him. There was an unknowingly higher priority on image of the house (marble statue in the living room, fancy stuff that didn't allow for kids to play), than there was on creating a playful household environment for a child, where they may exert some of their energies. The only exercise he seemed to get, was when I took the children outside for hearty outdoor play so they could get some really good exercise. How many children do you see playing outside these days? Children need to be given much more than one hour of outdoor play. Ditto for some of the grade-schools these days. RE: "two years ago they put him on Ritalin and since then about once every two months he goes into a deep depression where he sees little hope for the future. He said today it was worse than normal and that's why he couldn't stop crying." You should report this to the parents, the school, and school nurse, if there is one. His drug situation needs to be reviewed. Ritalin continues to be an overused drug, and will continue to be so until the FDA steps in and tightens this up, like they recently did with antibiotics. I personally think it's better for a child and society to create venues that work for a child's mind & body in a natural way, than to drug up a child so he adheres to society's rigid rules - rules that may be wrong as they are in the case of exercise. With both parents working these days, there's also more pressure for a child to confirm to a system - today's family systems have no buffer for a child that's not confirming to a defined norm. Kids can get drugged up because the parents don't want to lose their job due to calls from school. It wasn't until Clinton got into office, that parents were given the right to visit their kid's school without being fired for taking time off to do so. RE: "BTW the kids who are being drugged are usually the bright ones." Unfortunately, not all teachers understand the ultra bright child. This is a pretty well known, researched area of Ed. But the bright child appears more at risk today, than in previous years. I wonder why that is? My Mom always had a struggle with the non-so-bright teachers of my oldest brother. But she never had a problem with the very bright teachers he had, who really liked him a lot. Bright teachers know how to handle bright children. An average teacher might not know how to handle brightness. Maybe in our efforts to focus on the average, the bright kids are getting stampeded over. We'll probably see more Ritalin cases like the one you describe, until this particular generation gets into positions of power to change this. But another way to fix the problem, is to demand quotas. Quotas ensure there are enough white boys entering the various fields, and if the quota isn't met, it forces society to examine what's wrong and to fix it. No way do I think it's these kids fault. It's a faulty system. RE: "Sorry for the rant but it was a tough day. And just so you know, this kid today was not an isolated case.......there are many of these guys who are ADD or special ed.......they usually make up 1/5 of the boys in the class." The good news is, when these kids are in power, they'll fix it. The bad news is, society is wasting a lot of talent and creating undue pain. RE: "the guys just are expected to cope. It amazes me but adults expect boys will be okay when they get an emotional body blow or a crisis. That BS is just not true!" I completely agree with some people's extreme bias against men and boys on this issue. It's truly amazing. Regards, Amy J

To: tejek who wrote (181894)	2/1/2004 9:59:29 PM
From: Amy J	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574569

Hi Tejek, The window closed while I was still editing. I had just deleted the middle part of the sentence and hit submit to see where I was at with it, but boom the window closed. RE: "the guys just are expected to cope. It amazes me but adults expect boys will be okay when they get an emotional body blow or a crisis. That BS is just not true!" I completely agree with you on some people's extreme bias against men and boys on this issue. It's truly amazing. Guys should be given no less time or space when it comes to dealing with emotional stuff. I think Gen X guys are more discriminated against than women, in some cases. In fact, overseas we apparently beat out a F500 in retaining a male worker in part due to a Gen X rule we have. But I also think it's slowly changing for the good, for both men and women. I overheard some Stanford guys say they like assertive women. You never would have heard that a decade or so ago, from college students. And many women I know like sensitive guys. If a guy has his feelings cut off, what kind of relationship is that? Regards, Amy J