Most veteran educators are noticing and reporting the
differences in the behaviors of young children and the rising difficulty faced
in managing their behaviors. Yet, blame is placed on the teaching practices and
management a teacher is delivering to his or her class. This of course is
completely unjust and only illustrates the ignorance many have in relation to
the classroom and the conditions of many children in today’s classrooms.
Most individuals have a mental image of a classroom as a
group of children seated and working diligently with the instruction of a
teacher who manages a classroom based on rules and expectations. One may
picture a group of children patiently and quietly reading, writing, or seated
on a floor listening to the instruction of a teacher. Although the perfect
classroom may have been the typical classroom years ago, the current makeup of today’s
classrooms breeds an entirely different perspective on the characters of young
children.
The classroom of today is composed of individuals who are
not as cognitively fortunate because children are suffering from the conditions
of ADD and ADHD. In some cases, the behaviors are elements of autism, and these
resulting, anomalous behaviors observed so frequently by educators are uncontrollable
and unmanageable. Thus, the reason teachers are finding themselves disciplining
more than teaching.
Teachers in today’s classrooms continue to find themselves
disciplining more than teaching because of the uncontrollable behaviors from
the conditions of ADD and ADHD. In reality, the behavior of children, when
subject to the conditions of ADD and ADHD, cannot and will not change with
behavior management strategies, interventions, or specialized instructional
practices. Unfortunately, this truth is constantly ignored and thrown under the
table each and every time it is brought to the table of discussion. Furthermore,
ignorance is prevailing by the expectations and demands placed on children and
educators as well as the denial of the fact ADD and ADHD are true, complex
conditions, which haunt more and more people as time progresses.
Many question and deny the reality or existence of ADD and
ADHD because they can argue the means and level of discipline delivered to
children has dropped significantly. For example, past generations held their
children accountable and responsible for their actions, and they hardly ever
questioned others when their child was accused of inappropriate behavior. The
child was automatically assumed to be at fault, and no blame was ever placed on
an educator or adult for correcting a child. If correction or discipline were
issued by school personnel, a parent quickly apologized and took over the
discipline in an attempt to assure a problem would never transpire again. For
this reason, many believe the reason for the lack of discipline of young
children is due to poor parenting and the limited level of accountability
placed on young children for their behavior and actions. Although the level of
discipline has decreased, and children are not held responsible to the degree
they may have been in past years, these factors are far from the true cause and
reason for the behaviors observed in today’s classrooms.
The behaviors observed in today’s classrooms are so severe
and fascinating to the point parents and caregivers would be in absolute shock
if particular characteristics of the conditions of ADD and ADHD were properly
and accurately identified for them. In fact, one observer, who completely
denied the existence of ADD and ADHD, questioned what was wrong with a
particular child when he saw the child acting and moving about in an extremely bizarre
manner in a restaurant. I asked him if he had ever witnessed someone who was
heavily intoxicated. He stated he did, and I responded by asking him if he understood
the difference between those who become highly violent and hyperactive compared
to those who become extremely silly while they are
intoxicated. He quickly responded by stating he understood completely, and I
told him to consider a child acting in a very similar manner while having
limited or zero control over simple, everyday cognitive functions. Rather than
intoxication from extensive consumption of alcoholic beverages, extreme
disruption of everyday cognitive functions is an unfortunate result of the
conditions of ADD and ADHD.
The behaviors in relation to ADD and ADHD are so severe and
complex to the point most do not realize they are actually observing such
behavior. This is due to the number of children with these conditions being so
high in classrooms, which makes it nearly impossible to recognize opposing
behaviors between typical children and those suffering from ADD and ADHD.
In my latest work, Autism
Demystified, ADD and ADHD are broken into seven sub-cases based on my
observations of the conditions and noticing patterns of the same behaviors of
multiple children who have no social relation. By no means are the sub-cases
sources of labeling or judging children and the parenting of those who raise
them. Instead, they are a means of identifying the truth at hand and making a
statement in support of what is observed on a day-to-day basis by many adults
who have strived for so long to make a difference in the young lives of those
who suffer beyond the eyes of the ignorant.
In final consideration, teachers cannot and should not be expected
to place a classroom of children in small groups and demand them to work
independently when they already have a difficult time working in the direct
presence of the teacher. If the behaviors in relation to ADD and ADHD were
controllable, veteran teachers, who have been teaching for thirty years or
more, would not face impossible predicaments when attempting to control the
behaviors of most of their students. The difficulty veteran teachers face is
evidence of uncontrollable behaviors, which are elements of these medical
conditions. The children are seemingly impossible to manage because of the
severity and number of children in the classrooms with ADD and ADHD. With that
said, how can anyone even begin to think a teacher can manage a classroom by
having the children teach the class? Furthermore, how can anyone believe a
teacher can be productive in the classroom by teaching one small group of
children without constantly correcting the other children who are expected to
be working independently in groups at different locations in the classroom?
The
thinking behind such practices is evidence of the limited understanding many
have in regards to the behaviors of ADD and ADHD. Rather than attempt to
educate ourselves on instructional practices and methods, which we already have
mastered, we should educate ourselves on the conditions haunting better than
fifty percent of the children in today’s classrooms.
Jason M. Hufft
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