Walking the Child: an alternative to medication

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I do not discount the necessity of some drugs as mood stabilizers and depression fighting. I'll admit, however, some skepticism, regarding ADD and ADHD. When I was in school I was called energetic, I was enthusiastic and at times, unruly.I demanded my teachers attention and insisted they teach me. I was hungry to learn and to discover something new. Today I am asked if I have ADHD. I am told that had I been a child today they could have helped me so I was less of a distraction, less of a demand. To that I can only say, “Thank God.” I'm glad I was a demand. I insisted upon my education and I succeeded because of that insistence. I graduated and attended a nationally recognized school, reaching my bachelors degree with honors. And I am not done yet. There has been a shifting in our culture towards convenience. We want the world to accommodate us rather fitting ourselves to its idiosyncrasies. And in this desire to be unburden come the demanding, needy children. They don't always understand our rules or our explanations of those rules. We take them from activity to entrapment; demanding that these active, energized bodies, confine themselves to uncomfortable desks and abstract theories. Shame on us. My godson may one day be among the 20-25% of boys in grade five to be diagnosed as having ADD or ADHD by the DSM IV (http://borntoexplore.org/boys.htm). He is two now, an age which some children are put on drugs for this disorder. He runs; he breaks things. He is at times unruly. His parents have a fight over meals, bedtimes, playing “nice,” and his boundless energy. It must be exhausting, but they would never accept that you was one of these diagnosed children. And they shouldn't. He likes to walk. We take him for walks now that he is a toddler: around the park, to the ice cream parlor, along the water. And by the time we reach our destination he is calm, happy to sit still and have the ice cream he'd otherwise make a mess of. He eats his dinner, plays before his bath and slips off to sleep with a smile. But we don't have the time for this do we? I think, and his parents would think, that we do. With childhood obesity rates skyrocketing and physical activities of Americans on the decline, we need to let these kids move. Walk your child, let him/her play, and teach them that they deserve a teacher's attention and the chance to learn. Agree? Disagree?