I often wonder how many children, boys especially, are diagnosed with ADHD who really just need more physical exercise. My seven year old does a total of 30 minutes PE at school each week and it is noticeable now that soccer season has finished that he is more easily distracted and annoying to his sisters. With parents ever busier and after school care providing little or no outdoor activities it is really no wonder our children are bubbling over with energy - and getting fatter too. I have heard teachers complain that the boys won't sit still but take no notice of my suggestion that they get them all to do some aerobics or a few laps of the oval before class. Any mother knows this is the best way to quiet them down and improve attention. Even the most difficult children will benefit to some extent.

Ms Graham,

LG>I have never met a parent yet who did not agonise over the decision to give their child medication

JW>Yes, that is correct, they do not do as teachers tell them.

LG> The important thing for the public to know is that stimulant medication has to be allowed to wear off with enough time for children to eat a decent dinner and sleep at night.

JW> Don't you think that doctors advise parents of this?

LG> Also parents have to deal with the rebound effects of that medication, which can often produce behaviour far more extreme than that which the child was originally medicated for.

JW> yes parents are aware of this.

LG> The claim that parents medicate children for their own benefit is way off-base.

JW> According to you they do it for the teachers benefit

LG>What we do need to know more about is why parents make that decision and what alternative to drugs and labels we can come up with.

JW> Yes, so why don't you talk to parents before you place yourself as an authority on the matter. If you HAD spoken to parents you would know the answer would you not? So obviously it is as I suspect, you don't know what you are talking about. You quote the situation in the US and pass it off as if it were in Australia. Why?

JW> Oh, I am still waiting for your drug free solution to my 66 year old ADHD. Oh, and of course just where is your claimed finance coming from? The source please.

Other readers take note. Ms. Graham is ignoring me, ask yourself why?

JennyWren

Although I teach at a University in China I do extra work in local schools where I teach students ranging from 5 to 15 years old. At University I teach classes at each level from Freshmen to Post Grads.

The classes are all enormous and the behaviour of the pupils would, by Western standards, be considered totally unacceptable. Students chat, yell, run around, fidget, sleep, giggle, shriek and bellow. Foreign teachers frequently are reduced to tears, not many renew their contracts, and breaking contracts to go home is very common. So is giving up and showing movies. In every one of my classes there are students who, in the West, would be in "special" schools.

All of my students come from at least middle class backgrounds. Although both parents work they are nurtured in the home by grandparents who give them constant attention, encouragement, help and advice which is backed up by parents when not at work. There are no obesity problems and none of the students eats junk food, pre-packaged food, or instant food, nor do they ingest artificial colourings or flavourings on a daily basis. The food they eat is organically grown, fresh daily and cooked lightly and quickly.

in summation: - none of my pupils are emotionally starved, lack attention, have bad diets, come from low soci-economic backgrounds or suffers neglect in any way. The majority of my pupils exhibit symptoms consistant with those attributed to ADHD. The older pupils consistantly struggle with issues of self-esteem. It appears that the only common denominator between these students and those in the West is overcrowding in classrooms.

Teaching is extremely challenging and exhausting and calls for continual fresh strategies, constant re-working of daily teaching plans and inventiveness. Controlling a classroom is possible but only because of the latitude given to teachers in order to excercise these constantly changing attitudes.

While not advancing any conclusions from the foregoing I do throw it into the debate for those who might like to do so.

Thank you Romany, that is fascinating to hear. ADHD is a western phenomenon - that much is obvious in the diagnostic statistics which are highest in the US, Canada and Australia (countries using the DSM-IV). Diagnostic rates in the UK have been rising more moderately partly because they use the ICD-10 classification.

Incidentally, a review of international research recently stated that the optimum class size was between 13-17 students. Reducing class sizes from 28 to 25 students had no effect. Real impact was achieved when the class size went below 20.

For the last 15 or so years in Australia, we have embraced inclusive education but our teachers are still being rubbished by the Federal government for "falling standards". Fact is - our teachers have managed to hold the line even when the student population has dramatically (ie. see benchmark performance and OECD results). Our public education classrooms increasingly house students with disabilities, increasing population of English language learners, disadvantaged students and so on. The market "choice" policies being pursued by the Federal government (privatisation of education) has caused a drift in the most advantaged (and easy to teach) students to private schools.

However, the stress on teachers and schools is very high. Teachers are buying resources (whiteboard pens, paper etc) out of their own salaries. Contrary to popular opinion, many teachers work long hours. Those parents who can afford it, donate to schools so schools can top up their learning support funding! It goes without saying that some schools will do better in this than others. In a country that is aiming for excellence and equity in education - the underfunding of public education is unsustainable.

Jenny, I asked the question and wondered if it might be becuase of the very aggressive manner you use in your comments and questions.

Maybe instead of treating Linda as an enemy look and see if some of what she is saying has value. Look and see if she is using the forum to broaden her understanding of the issue (mabe not by much but a bit).

I got the impression that the article was not an attack on all medication for ADHD but rather a discussion regarding factors which might be contributing to a perceived overdiagnosis of the condition.

My own understanding is that ADHD is a real condition which has some similar symptoms to behaviours contributed to by environmental items more than genetics. Poor diet, lack of boundaries and a whole bunch of other things can in some kids lead to behaviours that look like ADHD. Linda is discussing particular aspects of the latter involving schooling.

If you disagree with that then tell us why, ask Linda if she is opposed to all medication for ADHD. If you are willing tell us some of what it is like as an adult ADHD sufferer.

I have a very good friend who is ADHD but at a low enough level that it is managed without drugs so I know some of it but have no understanding of the more severe levels and the impacts for an adult.

R0bert

From our experience, students need diversions to expend energy, to help with personality and physical development and to develop additional groups of friends. Just commenting briefly on the last mentioned (friends), when things are not going so well at school as they inevitably do, it is useful to have outside interests through membership of a sporting or special interest club (eg photography, science, art) not connected with the school.

Our boys benefitted greatly from joining the Scouting movement. Helped their confidence and egos no end and channelled their energy into something useful. Scouting developed a sense of community in them too which made them much more pleasant to deal with than some of their irritable, egocentric peers. Most children sit in front of the TV or computer when not at school and this cannot help.