Stop Assaulting Our Children!

Friday evening at the Breckenridge home. Weekend and movie night was planned. My boys, 3 of the older ones, had invited 2 of their buddies from the colony, and Dad was free, and I had rested, and therefore awake... 7:30 pm was our date to watch a Robin Williams film in our family room. RV is supposed to be a funny movie for the entire family...

Well, their friends, the twins came. I kid you not, they brought their game boys (a hand held computer game device) with them and kept playing a game while they watched the movie! I cannot understand why we allow our children to be assaulted with information, visual sensations, and emotions in this manner... Hello, isn't this the reason why more and more young boys of their age (the twins are 9) are being put on anti anxiety and anti ADHD medication? Isn't anyone thinking?

As we walked them home with our Labrador Zara at 9:30 pm, those ubiquitous game boys stayed on. What about watching for traffic, or talking with us about the movie?

HELLO!!!! Is no one listening? Young boys the world over are being medicated, some as young as 6, for being boys! ADHD is mostly preventable if parents, schools, etc., will make a conscious attempt to treat boys with respect, like they should be treated. From Stephen Biddulph's book, Raising Boys, I changed my attitude to raising my boys. I learned:
• Stop treating boys like girls, or how I behaved when I was their age. The genetic wiring is completely different,
• Encourage them to play team sports, excellent for thir self esteem,
• It's okay if boys under 13 underperform as compared to girls, after 13, they go into over drive, but we as parents can do immeasurable harm if we badgering them to study, fix their handwriting, etc.—the damage to their self esteem by that age is irreparable!
• Be tough, but surround them with love, boys need love, just as much, if not more than girls, and
• Limit time spent on game boys and TV, i.e., fill their days with other activities, so they do not miss it.

PLEASE send this post to anyone you know who has young boys and is damaging their spirit. Please help stop this assault on our boys. Please help other parents wake up and realise it's not grades, and buying the latest gameboy cartridges for their children that work as bribes, it is LOVE....and TIME. Not quality, but quantity!

Or contact me, and I can start helping you and your family heal....

Love,
Jhilmil

From http://health.yahoo.com/experts/childhealth/2735/adhd-treatments
The Pediatrician Is In

ADHD Treatments
Posted by Robert Needlman, M.D.
on Mon, Nov 27, 2006, 12:01 pm PST

Day in, day out, I treat children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A big part of the treatment is teaching parents behavioral techniques. For example, it's very helpful to have a system of rewards and punishments. Some children respond to happy faces or stickers; others do better with cash. Routines also help a great deal. Homework may be less of a fight if a child always does it at the same time, in the same place. Getting dressed in the morning is easier if you always lay out the clothes in the same place each night. Behavior therapy usually helps somewhat, but rarely solves the problem entirely.

Being a doctor, I also prescribe a lot of medications. The research is very clear on this point. Medications are the most effective treatment for ADHD, and they are safe. The side effects are generally mild and easily managed. The drugs can be abused (just like many prescription drugs and other substances) but don't cause addiction when used as prescribed. For most children, the benefits of having their ADHD treated far outweigh the costs and risks of the treatment.

Take Jane, for example. Jane (who actually has a different name) is now 17. Before she came to see me, her parents had become so fed up with her constant talking and irresponsible behavior that they had gone to court to have her judged "unruly." Once her ADHD was treated, Jane and her parents lived happily together. She excelled in school and helped at home. Her parents had to go back to court to get the unruly charge reversed. A couple of years later, her mother called: "The old Jane is back! We don't know what to do!" Things had been getting worse for a couple of months. But the solution was simple. Jane had grown, and needed a higher dose of medication. After a small adjustment, things were back to normal.

Of course, things aren't always this straightforward. Some children don't respond well to the medications, or have more serious side effects. At times, it takes a lot of trial and error to find the right medication and dose. And sometimes the root of the problem lies elsewhere.

One of my colleagues told me this story: A boy had been doing well on his ADHD medication for several months. His attention was better, his work was neater, his grades were up, and his mom was doing a lot less yelling. Then, all of a sudden, things went bad. He became less attentive and more impulsive, and at the same time he often acted "like a zombie." This set of complaints was confusing, because inattentiveness and impulsivity are signs of too little medication, while the zombie behavior is a sign of too much.

The puzzle was solved when the boy's mother discovered that he was staying up to all hours of the night playing his new video game. All of his behavior could be explained by the fact that he was sleep deprived. It wasn't the medicine's fault at all. Taking the video game away after bedtime solved the problem. Another treatment success!