Diagnosis Happy America; Why Our Kids Are So Active
Diagnosis Happy America; Why Our Kids Are So Active
In years past, if you had a kid or two who was really active, who enjoyed going outside to play, and who enjoyed doing hard work and getting dirty, you were considered lucky. People lived a hard life up until recent times. They had to plough the fields, plant the seeds and prepare for all sorts of weather, although there was not much that they could do about any of these situations. They worked hard during the day, from sunrise to sunset, and it did not matter if it were summer or winter to them. They had to do the work or they and their families would starve. Having kids with lots of energy made these chores and tasks much easier to accomplish; then again, maybe they didn’t realize that their kids had excess energy problems because the kids were so exhausted after all the chores and a little playing that they could barely keep their eyes open.
Things have changed a lot in recent years. We eat different foods, rely more on going to the grocery store to get our food than growing and making it ourselves, we do not need to manufacture our own clothes anymore, and most of the jobs that are available require people to spend large times sitting at a desk and looking at a computer. For a select few people, those who like to sit quietly and not do hard labor, this is an ideal situation; for the rest of society, this can get boring and very humdrum. Most people will go out of their skins with the boredom and the feeling of wanting to do something all of the time. This is why weekends are full of people doing home improvement projects, going to the beach, and why no one actually sits still and relaxes on vacation.
So why is it such a surprise that because the parents act this way the kids would do the same. Kids have tons more energy than their parents; they are little balls of concentrated energy that needs to be moving at all times. All of us have seen little kids that are moving around and bouncing all of the time; they get mad when their parents tell them to sit down and behave. All they want to do is go outside and play with their friends.
Our society is not very friendly towards letting children go outside and express this excess energy. From an early age, children are forced to stay inside all day, studying in school just so American and its leaders can brag about how smart the students are. Teachers are forced to deal with students all day who are wiggling and moving around in their desks, not having anything else that they can do. Most kids can have a tough time concentrating. Teachers used to have a reprieve, a couple of recess periods that allowed them to take the children outside and have them run like crazy. Now, with No Child Left Behind, recesses are being taken away and kids are forced to sit inside a boring classroom all day, barely paying attention because the subject matter does not interest them.
Once these children come home, they are full of energy to the brim. They do not want to sit still and need to go out and run off some of that energy. Instead of recognizing this, parents are getting upset that their children are so antsy and getting in to everything. Of course, the parents are tired of working all day and don’t have the energy to deal with the children sometimes, but this does not mean that the children should be punished and forced to sit still. While the television might be enough to distract them for a little bit, it is not enough to make up for all of the energy inside of them.
There are plenty of things that parents can do in order to effectively deal with all of this energy. Instead, they are choosing to say that there is something wrong with their children, that they need medical attention and medicine. Those with high energy as often diagnosed with either ADD or ADHD and given medicine. Depending on the types of medicine that you are giving to your child they can experience problems with development and some even put the children into a catatonic state. So you are effectively your child to behave and go against their natural inklings.
Instead of putting them through all of this just because you as a parent are too lazy to deal with the energy, maybe the parents should get off their butts and do something with the kids. There is nothing wrong with them other than maybe they are not given the right opportunities to figure out how to effectively express their energy to get rid of it. Take your kid to the park, go on a scavenger hunt, or even take them on a bike ride. I know someone who had ADHD for years and was even put on medicine; they case was so bad that the medicine was not really working for him. As soon as he was able to, he got off the medication and began going to the gym at least 3 to 4 times a week. Doing this helped release the energy and made him feel so much better.
That is just one case of how to deal with the supposed ADD in order to help you and your kids. An hour of playing can make all of the difference. Doctors and parents alike have become too prescription happy and now it is affecting our kids.
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