From Stuart Schneiderman.
Excerpt:
A month or so ago David Goldman, aka Spengler, wrote an extraordinary column about how America is failing its children.
America is a country that likes to solve problems. If children are a problem America has a solution. Or, I should say, American science has the solution.
If children are in trouble, cognitive neuroscience and child psychiatry are at the ready to solve the problem by changing their brain chemistry.
I have often praised the interesting work being done by cognitive neuroscience and its adjunct field, behavioral economics. I have also warned, to the extent that I can, against an overly mechanized view of human behavior.
Many neuroscientists replaced the mind with the brain, free will with determinism, and reason with irrational emotion.
Cognitive neuroscientists are so caught up in their discoveries, so drunk with their newfound power and prestige that they now claim to have all the answers to all the questions.
Of course, most psychiatrists today are gaga over the power of pills. Compared to the psychoanalytic therapy they had been offering, medication seems to represent a step in a better direction. Still, in many cases it is a step too far.
Therapists used to believe that it was all in the mind. Now they have gone to the other extreme, thinking that it’s all in the brain.
Whatever the cause of the problem with American children, America, Spengler writes, has been trying to solve it by prescribing pills and technology.
Imperiously, perhaps even tyrannically, it has diagnosed 10% of America’s children with one or another form of attention deficit disorder. And it has filled classrooms with computers, the better to make learning fun and creative.
But now, Spengler reports, physicians and psychologists are beginning to recognize that Ritalin and Adderall are not as effective as we like to think, and that, over time, these amphetamines are actually harmful.
If you’re a parent, then you should read the rest. He gets quite judgmental and exclusive – and that’s a good thing!
WINTERY KNIGHT 
Something that wasn’t mentioned was Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). I’ll admit i never really knew anything about it until we took our youngest foster child in and she has this condition. I went on a very steep learning curve when we got her. This is caused when mum drinks while pregnant. a lot of the problems mentioned in the article are part of the spectrum.
Computer programes and computer games do help to a certain extent, but only when used in a limit amount of time.
It is thought that the incidents of FASD could be as high as 10% in America and a lot of EU contries. In former Soviet countries it is higher. Yes it is definately caused by mum drinking, but in many of these cases dad drinks as well (our youngest’s dad is an alcoholic as well and used to feed her vodka if he couldn’t afford milk and vodka. Milk lost out. He’s not allowed to see her any more as he tried to give her some vodka last time he came here and my back was turned). They are also trying to test the dad’s sperm as they think there could be sperm damage which could make the problem worse in many cases, but much of the time they can’t get hold of dad (or mum for that matter) to get a sample of sperm. The medical profession in America won’t diagnose FASD unless the carers can prove mum was drinking, which is hard to do if you can’t find them, or they deny it.
People I know in America are often fuming as they can get no help a lot of the time and the upbringing is blammed. Most of these children are often in foster care. They are fed medication such as Ritalin, and this very often makes them much worse.
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I think I have a pretty broad experience with AD(H)D (Attention Deficit(Hyperactivity) Disorder – ADD can come w/ or w/o the hyperactive part. We homeschooled our 5 blessings for over a quarter of a century (it’s a bit hard to say when it starts).
One kiddo was a bit of a “space cadet” (could ‘play’ soccer while mostly observing birds, airplanes…) and I am sure this one would have been medicated in a conventional classroom to improve attentiveness. Would have had no real discipline problems — until maybe they started punishing the child for not paying attention when the mind wandered. But at home, we were able to modify the environment and help keep the kiddo on track. [possible-to-likely fetal alcohol exposure based on situation; not documented]
Another child with VERY well documented fetal alcohol exposure was seriously hyperactive/aggressive and after lots of other things did not do nearly enough to help, we researched like crazy and reluctantly did use meds. Complex psych issues with this one, but eventually we raised—by God’s help–a successful adult. Being able to modify the environment helped, but did not solve the serious issues. Small classrooms are SO needed in these cases (like 6-8 kids to 2 adults – yes, I’m serious).
A third kiddo had absolutely NO alcohol/illicit drug exposure and would definitely have been labelled and medicated in a conventional classroom. Just a TON of natural energy that was challenging to shape around an education, but at home, we could and did. And avoided meds.
We would be considered firm/strict parents – in some countries probably arrested, but, no, not abusers! The teacher’s authority has been seriously undermined in the classroom, as has the parents’ at home. Parents no longer know HOW to parent, are told mostly the exact wrong things to do, and are not willing/able to put in the time needed to really, truly parent a challenging child. It can and should be done in almost all cases w/o meds…but it’s not what society is willing to do.
We need lower taxes so more moms can have the choice to stay home and not warehouse kids in preschool/early kindergartens, or have the real choice even to homeschool (the ultimate education – one-on-one tutorials).
Don’t have them if you aren’t willing to WORK to raise them. Throwing pills at problems isn’t any better than throwing money at them. It takes painstaking, hands-on, time-consuming effort. Period. Government must get out of parents way and not cause them to fear losing kids for simply being firm parents. Teachers need authority to disciple when it’s needed – and yes, I have knowledge of schools where teachers were told you cannot suspend/expel any more ___ kids because the racial quotas are not balanced. So all children suffer… and some are forced to take pills.
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Great, great comment. Thanks for sharing your experiences and advice. And thank you for making the connection between parenting and policies. We need more people to think it all through like you have.
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