Educators and psychologists have long feared that children entering school with behavior problems were doomed to fall behind in the upper grades. But two new studies suggest that those fears are exaggerated.
One concluded that kindergartners who are identified as troubled do as well academically as their peers in elementary school. The other found that children with attention deficit disorders suffer primarily from a delay in brain development, not from a deficit or flaw.
Experts say the findings of the two studies, being published today in separate journals, could change the way scientists, teachers and parents understand and manage children who are disruptive or emotionally withdrawn in the early years of school. The studies might even prompt a reassessment of the possible causes of disruptive behavior in some children.
“I think these may become landmark findings, forcing us to ask whether these acting-out kinds of problems are secondary to the inappropriate maturity expectations that some educators place on young children as soon as they enter classrooms,” said Sharon Landesman Ramey, director of the Georgetown University Center on Health and Education, who was not connected with either study.
Another Epiphany of the Obvious for the slpw witted American education. To think that this observation, after intensive study and expense, sinks into heads which, had they paid attention to reality, would have so obvious tht all this work and money would have been unnecessary! But you may well reply that they hae been so busy drugging little boys that t hey had no time for the real world. Oy Vey.
On the other hand, the real world evidence is that if a child is a trouble maker right through middle school, he will get even worse when he enters high school. Drugs ain’t gonna help this kid. American education is simply unwilling to admit, (a) some kids are rotten to the core and win’t improve, no matter what you do, (b) some kids are so much trouble and helping t hem is such an enormous cost, they are not worth the time and expense, (c) some kids are simply stupid and cause a lot of trouble because they are unable to see the future, even as close as next week.
But little kids in kindergarten are different by and large and can be straightened out by good teachers. Drugging them isn’t the answer. Larry
You can read more about the development of the protocol at http://www.pwcweb.com/ecw/tec_to_nigeria.html
Even now the diocese of Virginia could be a model or reconciliation to the wider church and choose to seek ways to be, in the words of the protocol, ‘in as close a relationship as possible’ with these congregations. Just because CANA is a different branch of Anglicanism does not exclude partnered ministry in agreed areas. Remember the Methodists?
Larry, you apparantly fall somewhat into your own category C. If the shoe fits wear it. Good grief!
My own experience with ADHD in my family tells me that children do benefit from medicine prescribed by a physician, and furhter studies indicate a higher incidence of self medication among those teens who have not had the benefit of early medical intervention.
It seems to me that anglo-catholics have learned nothing from this mess. Yes, we all hope the reasserters will come out clear, but we ignore they underlying principle. Blind obedience and absolute submission to the authority of a bishop, whether the bishop of rome or any other is destructive. It destroys churches, finances, and, if not held in check, the very soul of the submitter.
Oops. Somehow my comment appeared in the wrong article.
#3. Some kids benefit ? Indeed they do because the change in behavior is not theirs, but the drugs, and that is the goal of drugging. What has happened, in fact, is that normal male behavior, for young boys, is now regarded as a defect tha t requires correction. Drugs do this, so drug s yield the benefit desired. The aloternat ive is t he sensible one, that litt le boys and little girls ar e fundamentally differ ent and need to be treat ed that way. Little boys, rightly, should have recess in both morning and afteroon so they can go outside and bash around. But recess is falling out of fashion.
Kindergarten kids are of ten a diffferent case than older kids who are troublesome. The little ones come from t he standard American home where there are no rules, no standards, and Mummy has a set of live iin boyfriends. Kindergarten must have rules and standards, so the little kids often have a hard row t o hoe in this opening salvo of acculturation.
4th graders are a different matter. If these kids are hard core touble, drugging them may slow them down, but it isn’t the drugs that allow them to readjust as they age. Maturation g oes on at its own pace, drugs or no drugs, just the way reading readiness goes on at its own pace.
What drugging these kids DOES do is teach them that drugs are the answer to behavior problems. And it teaches the parents the same lesson. This is BAD BUSINESS.
Nor will drugs help the stupid, and their maturation is the maturation ofdogs and cats – very limited indeed, reached early and never changed. In the old days, there was always something these kids could do, other than stay in school. Not now. They are doomed to become G ammas and Deltas in the Brave New World we are making. Larry
What the element ary schools need t o do with little oys who raise hell is treat them like little boys, not like defective little girls, which is the present case. Is ADHA real? I suppose it is, but in very small numbers. T he rest is the failure of public education and parents t o see t hat little boys and little girls are different – well, who would have thought of that ! – and that No Child Left Behind is the purest nonesense.
[i] Comment deleted by elf. Personal and off topic. [/i]
Could part of the problem be the fact that we’re asking for adult behavior at such a young age? Expectations for children to be reading by preschool? Full-day kindergarten with homework besides?
Grade acceleration and skipping? Always being tested and ranked?
Could any of us sat in a classroom and focused all day when we were five-years-old? So, why do we expect five-year-olds to do it now? Could out-of-control behavior result from out-of-control
expectations?
First of all, my apology for the personal comment that was deleted.
As a parent of a child with ADHD, and someone who knows, volunteers with, and cares for children who have that medical diagnosis, I have studied and know something about the subject.
Physicians began prescribing low doses of amphetamine in 1965 to children in third grade and older who presented with the symptoms. Remarkably, it had been observed that the presenting symptoms temporarily subsided when the child was given coffee. They saw positive results with the more effective amphetamine, and the treatment has continued with some tweaks and perfections, but basically with the same repeatable success rate ever since, forty-two years. Of course, as with handguns, when used properly medicine can be a very effective tool, but if misused, it can have tragic consequences. For instance, my dad one time took too much of his hyper-tension medicine and had a bad time of it. Just as with ADHD children, he started taking the medicine only after medical diagnosis and after having tried other non-medical treatments, diet and exercise (discipline), which were unsuccessful.
Writingmom15143, it is generally understood that the condition has indeed been brought to our attention in the last century by raised expectations of an ever more urban and demanding society. In simpler times, attention deficits were not as obvious, and even forty years ago, did not present in children until third grade. Children are now being tested and diagnosed as early as kindergarten because they begin to consistantly lag behind their peers, among other things in completion of the work that is presented to them even at that young age. When this is observed over a period of time with other symptoms and/or with a family history of ADHD present, the child is referred to his pediatrician for further medical evaluation. If non-medical interventions don’t work (discipline), then medicines are indicated and prescribed.
Some parents find that the prescribed combination of behavior modification therapy (discipline) and medicine works well and they see immediate improvement in their child, for others the medicines do not work so well, and a long period of trial and error can take place while the student struggles to keep up with peers and keep up her own self esteem while different myriad medical therapies are tried.
Contrary to misconceptions expressed here, the ADHD child is typically of above average intelligence, but does not learn in the same style that the majority of their peers enjoy. As the article points out, most outgrow the ADHD condition as their years increase, and their brains catch up in growth and development.
Sadly, for those children who are not afforded treatment for the condition, years of falling behind in school can lead to cascading problems academically and socially, and with the sense that something is wrong from both without and within, the child may well self medicate, commonly with marijuana and homemade stimulants (crack and crank) that may offer some temporary relief, but are contra-indicated for the condition. This can lead to serious consequences as one might expect, including poor health, jail, and death.
An example for those who may have been undiagnosed, or otherwise missed out on treatment is the person who drinks copious amounts of caffeine during the day “to stay focused”. The problem with caffeine is that while it is effective as a stimulant in treating the ADHD condition, it passes through the system rather quickly and thus must be readministered often through out the day. Coffee can be a really good treatment for ADHD, but it really is difficult to get children to drink coffee, and besides, the constant trips to the bathroom are disruptive to the educational process. So, drugs like Metadate which don’t have the strong jolt of coffee, can work gently and effectively throughout the day allowing the patient to work consistantly without the trips to the bathroom and also allowing sleep at night. Metadate can now be given to children in controlled doses that the child can tolerate much better than coffee. The most negative side effect that I have personally observed is a reduction in appetite and I would presume a corresponding reduction in the child’s growth.
Not all children respond to current medical treatment, but most do, and as the article confirms, many grow out of ADHD as their brains catch up to the normal growth rates of their peers. The study reported in the article is an encouragement to parents who worry about the sort of situation as discussed above, and I am grateful for the post and I have shared it with several other families.