I agree that it has been happening for years, but I believe early on, it was seen as normal behavior. A boy who can't sit still in class is not something that needs to be drugged or treated necessarily, but coping skills should be taught to address it. I'm not saying that all behavior is normal, but i will say that drugs have been over-p…
I agree that it has been happening for years, but I believe early on, it was seen as normal behavior. A boy who can't sit still in class is not something that needs to be drugged or treated necessarily, but coping skills should be taught to address it. I'm not saying that all behavior is normal, but i will say that drugs have been over-prescribed.
I had this problem as well and instead of being drugged (we had a student that was hyperactive at the time and attended SLD class and took Ritalin) I learned to entertain myself when I had "downtime."
The great thing about English papers is that there is a lot of latitude in answering a topic. For instance, you could argue that Lenny in "Of Mice and Men" was the hero or a villain of the story, and it wouldn't take much to support either opinion. The thing is, you weren't rebelling, you were actually answering the spirit of what the paper would tell the teacher: that you read the book and comprehended it. Now, sure there are teachers out there that are very legalistic in their handling of topics, but I think most of them would have loved your independent thinking streak. But what do i know, you're the one with the PhD.
As far as thought control, I don't think I had much of that either. School was more of a malaise for me. It was more about memorizing dates and facts, terminology, and vocabulary. There was no critical thinking going on in elementary school, and not much more going on in high school. I didn't get schooled in critical thinking until I attended college. School intellectually was a low-grade fever. The few standout moments I had were I got to paint a "fireplace" for the school play one year and a teacher in fourth grade took an interest in my artistic skill/talent.
That doesn't mean I didn't think indepdently though. I could have burned a ton of calories in high school and probably could have become popular, but for whatever reason, I did not. I enjoyed being the passively non conforming kid I was that enjoyed D&D, artistic endeavors, and viewed himself as an artist/writer even then. My parents were concerned for my socialization and had me "tutored" by a child psychologist. One of the things he told me was that a lot of bullying I faced was due to the fact that I was different and did not conform. I think that was part of the problem, another part was I just did what my parents told me and "ignored it and they will go away," That didn't work.
I never made friends with the Amish, but my Uncle employed one to work on his house renovations. He was a very hard and skilled worker from what I remember.
I do think that most poeple's minds want to be free, but we have ways of coping with it that either sublimate or otherwise placate that desire.
I agree that it has been happening for years, but I believe early on, it was seen as normal behavior. A boy who can't sit still in class is not something that needs to be drugged or treated necessarily, but coping skills should be taught to address it. I'm not saying that all behavior is normal, but i will say that drugs have been over-prescribed.
I had this problem as well and instead of being drugged (we had a student that was hyperactive at the time and attended SLD class and took Ritalin) I learned to entertain myself when I had "downtime."
The great thing about English papers is that there is a lot of latitude in answering a topic. For instance, you could argue that Lenny in "Of Mice and Men" was the hero or a villain of the story, and it wouldn't take much to support either opinion. The thing is, you weren't rebelling, you were actually answering the spirit of what the paper would tell the teacher: that you read the book and comprehended it. Now, sure there are teachers out there that are very legalistic in their handling of topics, but I think most of them would have loved your independent thinking streak. But what do i know, you're the one with the PhD.
As far as thought control, I don't think I had much of that either. School was more of a malaise for me. It was more about memorizing dates and facts, terminology, and vocabulary. There was no critical thinking going on in elementary school, and not much more going on in high school. I didn't get schooled in critical thinking until I attended college. School intellectually was a low-grade fever. The few standout moments I had were I got to paint a "fireplace" for the school play one year and a teacher in fourth grade took an interest in my artistic skill/talent.
That doesn't mean I didn't think indepdently though. I could have burned a ton of calories in high school and probably could have become popular, but for whatever reason, I did not. I enjoyed being the passively non conforming kid I was that enjoyed D&D, artistic endeavors, and viewed himself as an artist/writer even then. My parents were concerned for my socialization and had me "tutored" by a child psychologist. One of the things he told me was that a lot of bullying I faced was due to the fact that I was different and did not conform. I think that was part of the problem, another part was I just did what my parents told me and "ignored it and they will go away," That didn't work.
I never made friends with the Amish, but my Uncle employed one to work on his house renovations. He was a very hard and skilled worker from what I remember.
I do think that most poeple's minds want to be free, but we have ways of coping with it that either sublimate or otherwise placate that desire.