"Tag, you're it!" "... I'm what?"

[McLaren]

Wait, so regular football is allowed, but you can't play touch football?

OMG, is that hilarious. Words can not describe how funny that is.

 

[Wolfe]

And they wonder why little boys have all kinds of extra energy during school and symptoms of ADD. They can't play anything to get rid of that energy. Sheesh...

Yep. 👍 That should a big DUH...but some people just don't get it.

I personally refuse to even believe in the existence of ADD/ADHD. It's called being a kid/teenager. Parents and teachers just have to learn to 🤬 deal with it, especially if they pull 🤬 like the topic of this thread.

 

[FoolKiller]

I personally refuse to even believe in the existence of ADD/ADHD.

I believe that ADD/ADHD exists (we believe I have Adult ADD, in fact) because there is a measurable dopamine deficiency in people that have the problem. Now, what you picture as the stigma that comes with ADD is not actually what the condition is as it is less about being hyperactive and unable to pay attention and more about find a dopamine stimulus. To avoid a multi-page description of what ADD (a complete misnomer in my opinion) actually is I will just summarize to say a hyper child with energy is not all you need to determine ADD/ADHD. Heck, in adults hyperfocusing (the exact opposite of an attention deficit) is a major symptom.

Assuming that makes sense, I will say that I believe too many kids get diagnosed as creative outlets and physical activities in schools are gradually removed. Funding is disappearing for art, music, and physical education (yet somehow athletic teams are still strongly funded) and children have imaginations and creative/physical energy that needs to be released. With the outlets for this energy disappearing you can guarantee that they will exhibit attention problems when most of their day is spent on studying and tests. Adults don't have these problems because work is a release of these energies (even if it is mundane) and they aren't being forced to just sit and listen all day. Sometimes it isn't satisfying and they look for other stuff, but they don't NEED to go running or painting during teh day to release all their energy.

This is why they think that ADD disappears as you mature (even though true cases don't), because adults have outlets such as hobbies, or the freedom to occasionally go do something extracurricular when they want to. Children haven't developed interests and/or are a slave to their parents' schedules, so when these outlets are taken away from school they don't have a way to release this energy and BOOM, they explode into what is commonly mistaken as ADD/ADHD.

To sum up: it exists, but not to the degree some want you to believe. I've even heard stories where schools have told parents that teh child can't come back until the student is treated. I didn't know that educators were experts at psychological disorders.

 

[Pupik]

I personally refuse to even believe in the existence of ADD/ADHD. It's called being a kid/teenager. Parents and teachers just have to learn to 🤬 deal with it, especially if they pull 🤬 like the topic of this thread.

I used to think that, until I met a few kids that have ADD/ADHD (along with a few other terms now like acute forms of autism and Asperger's Disease). Many of the parents want a label for their kid so it can get medicine to ease the problem, and thus, make their own lives easier. Of course, there's also those that seriously need medication and/or treatment, and they refuse to consider anyone else's opinion, lest they be marked as unfit parents.

Some kids are extremely-mega-super-hyperactive...they have energy that no amount of coffee and Red Bull can give me. But their ability to concentrate on anything for long is virtually nil. They can't keep on task, they are very easily distracted even in the most rigid and barren of environments, and can't keep their thoughts and speech in line for a moment. Some of these kids can't sleep, they can't read, they can't play with others because their mind's moving so damn quickly.

Sometimes, it's treatable, other times it's just a lot of hard work. Some parents get very easily frustrated because there is no quick fix, and start to give up, especailly if there's multiple children in the family. I've heard that the most common problem is that these types of kids have no order for how and when they do things in their daily lives; there's no routine, and the parents bend because the vicious cycle of a kid's problems are forgiven easily by bending the routine too frequently.

I don't actually have a child yet, but coming from a family of teachers, both in the elementary and pre-school level, these seem to be issues that come up year after year. Some kids really do have these problems, it isn't a phantom illness for all these kids. No kid comes out and says he has ADD.

 

[Scaff]

Yep. 👍 That should a big DUH...but some people just don't get it.

I personally refuse to even believe in the existence of ADD/ADHD. It's called being a kid/teenager. Parents and teachers just have to learn to 🤬 deal with it, especially if they pull 🤬 like the topic of this thread.

My wife is a Teaching Assistant to kids in the 6 to 10 year age range (Junior School level in the UK), specifically dealing with 'problem kids' (my words) and would I have to say take great issue with that.

A very large difference exists between kids with ADD/ADHD and 'normal' levels of energy in kids, particularly in focus, attention span, conduct and potential for harm (both to others and self).

To say that Parents and Teachers should just 'deal' with this and use it as an excuse is simply ignorant of the issue and a long way from constructive, I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but I have seen and experienced the harm this can do to families. One of my daughters best friends has a brother with ADD/ADHD, he gets so uncontrollable that when out shopping they have no choice but to use a buggy for him (he is seven), as you can guess this can get quite funny looks. He is a lovely lad, but his violent outbursts are both frightening, destructive and a long way from the norm.

The kids themselves and their families want and need help and understanding, not derision and a refusal to believe. I have to say I find comments of dismissal like this to be on par with telling people with eating disorders to stop whining and have a good meal, its neither the right thing to do and far from being constructive, its potentially very harmful.

Regards

Scaff

 

[Famine]

Like dyslexia, ADHD suffers from a problem of malingerers - people who present similar symptoms with different reason.

It's easy (maybe not "easy" per se, but "easier") for someone to wash their hands of any responsibility for controlling their child because they're boisterous or naughty, and claim it's "ADHD" - when in fact all children crave attention, and it's the lack of attention and control that sees the child exhibiting symptoms of ADHD without them actually being ADHD.

It's a similar problem with dyslexia - lazy and stupid children who the parents can't accept are lazy and stupid and have to find a medical excuse for.

It's safe to say that the majority of children that are claimed to have ADHD or dyslexia (or both) are not sufferers at all and they swamp the genuine kids, leading to suspicion that the disorders just don't exist.

 

[FoolKiller]

A very large difference exists between kids with ADD/ADHD and 'normal' levels of energy in kids, particularly in focus, attention span, conduct and potential for harm (both to others and self).

While this is true you can't deny that to people who aren't aware of the difference they just label any hyper or misbehaving child with ADD, which creates a huge stigma around teh disorder and leads to comments like Wolf's.

One of my daughters best friends has a brother with ADD/ADHD, he gets so uncontrollable that when out shopping they have no choice but to use a buggy for him (he is seven), as you can guess this can get quite funny looks. He is a lovely lad, but his violent outbursts are both frightening, destructive and a long way from the norm.

Please tell me they have exhausted the multiple different medications available before strapping the kid to a buggy so they can go out. If they have exhausted the medication routes they may want to see if he doesn't have other factors other than just AD(H)D.

The kids themselves and their families want and need help and understanding, not derision and a refusal to believe. I have to say I find comments of dismissal like this to be on par with telling people with eating disorders to stop whining and have a good meal, its neither the right thing to do and far from being constructive, its potentially very harmful.

The best way to prevent these kinds of comments is to work more at being able to accurately diagnose ADD/ADHD. This way parents with poor parenting skills can't use the disorder as an excuse and apply even more stigma to the disorder. Your daughter's friends seem to be doing everything possible to control their child, but many parents are busy working all hours of the night, going out on dates, being kids themselves, or just being bad parents and their kids lash out for attention. Like many problems with kids the parents can't possibly believe it is their own fault and blame it on things like a behavioral or learning disorder. These kids, of course, get counted in the statistics and their behavior recorded and the stigma grows. And of course, we can't forget the burden on healthcare systems as these kids are placed on useless drugs, raising demand and price.

Then there is also the danger of having a popular disorder such as ADD being blamed for something much more serious on a psychological scale and the child ends up hurting themselves or someone else.

Refusing to admit that parents and teachers sometimes use ADD/ADHD as a scapegoat is just as dangerous as assuming that it doesn't exist at all. The best way to look at it is to admit that there is a disorder (irregular brain and chemical activities can be measured) but realize that too much attention to it can allow poor parents to abuse the system to displace their own responsibilities.

It's easy (maybe not "easy" per se, but "easier") for someone to wash their hands of any responsibility for controlling their child because they're boisterous or naughty, and claim it's "ADHD" - when in fact all children crave attention, and it's the lack of attention and control that sees the child exhibiting symptoms of ADHD without them actually being ADHD.

The need for attention and excess energy is why I believe that removing creative and physical activities leads to more children acting out. This could also account for why it is believed that most (almost all) cases of ADD disappear in adulthood. It wasn't actually ADD. Actual cases persist into adulthood and manifest themselves in many ways from super creativity and workaholic-type attitudes to self-destructive behaviors. I can't find research but I personally think that the end result may be a part of upbringing and personality development.

It's safe to say that the majority of children that are claimed to have ADHD or dyslexia (or both) are not sufferers at all and they swamp the genuine kids, leading to suspicion that the disorders just don't exist.

It kind of reminds me of the South Park episode where one kid got on Ritalin and every parent decided their kid had ADD too anytime they misbehaved. By the end of the episode even the parents had gotten on the medicine and the entire town was acting like zombies and everyone was going to a Phil Collins concert while the pharmacists were sitting around counting their money. Chef was the only one not on Ritalin and when he told the pharmacists that everyone was going to a Phil Collins concert they realized their error and gave everyone "Rital-out" to bring everyone back to normal.

The point is too many parents just slap their kids on drugs and displace the blame. I know in the US a family physician can prescribe mood-altering drugs without a pyschological review first and so if a parent decsribes a hyper kid to a physician they will put the child on a medication without referring them to a psychiatrist first.

 

[Alex.]

they even banned go-go's and pokemon cars at my school because little kids swapped and then cried when they couldnt have the card back, same with the go-go's

 

[Keef]

Agreed. FAIL. Back in my elementary days Pokemon and such was at its highest point, and the cards did get banned after a few years because they were the biggest distraction from school work and even recess itself. Nobody played tag or anything--we sat around and checked out Pokemonz.

 

[FoolKiller]

they even banned go-go's

As in Go-Go Girls? Yeah, they shouldn't be in schools.


Seriously, what are Go-Gos? I've never heard of those. I've seen Pokemon (make it stop!!!) and Dragonball (I can only assume it's a ripoff).

I had Magic when I was in school and it almost got banned for being a satanic game. So, I quickly hid my "Lord of the Pit" card and showed them it was a fantasy game with many literary references, such as Lord of the Rings 1001 Arabian Nights.

 

[ImprezaAddict]

Goes to show you the intelligence of society. I still play British Bulldog in PE. But this has gone too far. Stepping on grass will eventually become too dangerous.

 

[Small_Fryz]

Back when i was in primary (elementry) school (not that long ago really) we played with no shoes on and our favourite game was kill the dill with the pill. lamemans terms.. tackle the guy who has the ball then when he throws it to someone else tackle them!. Plus we played standing on the wall and pegging balls at them to try to hit em. Not only that but we had treated pine as our fort and also rubber pieces as the soft stuff. and guess what IM STILL ALIVE!!. Granted we were not really allowed to play these games, but we did. Tackle red rover was also fun.

If this continues we will have a generation of pussies.

 

[exigeracer]

How do you play un-tackle red rover?

"Come try to run through our wall!"

But you tag the kid out?

We played when you call someone over, if they can't get through your wall by any means possible, they're done. I can't see the game being un-tackle.

 

[Philly]

Idea:idea:: How about we sue the school system for banning fun?

If they are scared about getting sued, then the problem is the lawyers/judges/juries. If someone can sue because their little kiddy got a booboo (bruise, cut) then the court system is being a little too canted toward the plantiff. Lawsuits should be for real things, not stupid stuff.

Again, sue the school. If a parent can sue over a bruise, then we can sue because children are being deprived of their childhood rights.

Geez...

 

[Sakiale]

Yeah, my mom seems to think the same thing as these psychos... but because I'm 'too old' for tag, not that itll hurt me. Screw that, I'm never too old to play games!

Seriously though, wtf? My school actually made us play red rover when we annoyed the teachers .

They didn't care who got killed either.

Anyway, is tag really more risky than anything else? Man, if they think so, they don't want to know what goes on in gym locker rooms. All of the 3 serious fights Ive been in this year has been in the back corridor of the gym locker rooms.