Just say no

I was thinking the other day about when I was in Elementary school in the 1980s. I wondered “what if I were a kid today in 2006? I wonder what drugs I would be prescribed?” It seems like so many kids are on some medication in order to control their thoughts and actions.

In the fourth grade I was identified as one of six kids out of 60 or 70 as having “a lack of study skills.” At the time I was achieving straight Cs on my report card and perpetually had about ten assignments that were overdue. I was placed in a class called “study skills” with those other five students for an hour each day. I don’t remember much about it except one lesson on King Tut. But I do remember making the honor in fifth grade and not having any late assignments. If I were in grade school today and had study skills problems, I am willing to bet there would be no specialized class for me, but rather a specialized drug. I am almost positive I would have been labeled ADD or ADHD and drugged for who knows how many years to come. Then soon after placed on some other drugs to counter the side-effects of the previous drugs.

Maybe I was ADD. My grades were pretty streaky up through my sophomore year in college. But I honestly don’t think it was attention deficit. My attention was very specifically and purposely focused on other things. Starting my junior year of college I consistently had good grades for the four years of my schooling. I guess I found subjects I was interested in and wanted to focus on and do my best. Maybe that is what people see as ADD: not wanting to focus on the things they should. If that is truly the case, then we should all be on drugs, (and all drug companies say “amen”).

My freshmen year in college my priorities were elsewhere and I was getting around a 2.5 GPA. My parents paid for my education so maybe a subconscious part of me thought “hey, whatever happens, my parents will bail me out.” At one point though, my mom called on the phone to chew me out for never calling them and for racking up a huge phone bill calling my girlfriend. My parents hadn’t seen my grades, but they knew me and knew my studies were probably taking a backseat. My mom informed me in that motherly tone of voice that if I did not make some changes, they would stop paying for my college.

Sometimes in life you can call your parents bluff, but not this time. I believed her and I straightened out. I did fall into partying a couple semesters later, but then straightened out again and permanently. The reality of what could happen if I just coasted and crossed my fingers had hit me smack in the face. I had needed my mom to be stern with me. As much as I hated it, I needed it. I didn’t need a drug. I am not saying nobody needs drugs, but I think and once read somewhere (I forget where) that 90% of kids and teens on ADD and ADHD type drugs do not need them. Maybe they are like me and just needed life to kick them in the rear end or just threaten to kick them.

I am baffled by the philosophy that anytime a kid is struggling in life, we reach for the prescription pad. Certainly some one other than pharmaceutical companies can help us raise our kids. My wife and I have a ten-month old daughter. The way society is progressing, I cringe at the battles we will have to fight. I cringe at the thought of other parents telling us what a great drug they have their son. “He sits still now and doesn’t run all over any more,” they’ll say. And I’ll say “thank goodness he doesn’t act like a kid anymore.” I wonder if by the time our daughter is in grade school; will a portion of class time be for kids to line up and get their meds like in a mental institute? Maybe schools are already doing that, maybe that’s not the ice cream truck I hear outside, but rather the drug truck. Is our society becoming like that of A Brave New World? Have we all fallen in love with the things that oppress us and we don’t want to know a world with out them.

If we say no to drugs, are we quickly labeled as “hippies” or just “one of those people?” Or maybe if we say no, we can get people honestly wondering why we say no. Then maybe others will say no and Nancy Reagan will say “why didn’t it work when I tried it?”

Maybe there is hope. Hope that the babies being born now (Generation X’s kids) will not grow up being baby sat by the TV, a bottle of Coke, and a box of Pizza. Maybe the next generation will have better nutrition and an active lifestyle. What does that even look like? How much drugs would be needed then?

Who would have thought that Generation X would have a chance to reverse a deadly trend in America. All those grunge listening, don’t care about anything kids are now parents and doing things a little differently. A lot of them have found God and found a reason to care and a reason to desire something a little better in this world than a healthy stock portfolio and drugged kids. Some of the Gen Xers were drugged as kids too (if you know what I mean), but they’ve sobered up and are thinking clear. Now the same society that told them to stay away from drugs is telling them to get their kids on them. I am rooting for you Generation X because we need a change. I know many of you have given into the “Me Generation,” but it is never too late to start “damning the man.”

Lifestyle


What should a nation’s number one priority be? I believe it should be the health of it’s citizens. No, this is not an essay on socialized medicine. Sure I could get into how 40% of our nation is without health insurance, but not in this post. I am big proponent of lifestyle as the best means to wellness. Currently America is leading the world in unhealthy lifestyles. A good portion of Americans lead depressingly sedentary lives. We are either sitting in the car, sitting on a couch, or sitting at a desk. With restaurants steadily increasing portion sizes and us being taught our whole lives to eat everything on our plate it is no wonder that auto manufacturers and airlines are having to increase seat sizes to fit our ever increasing seat sizes.

The average child in America watches two hours of television per day. I was one of those statistics when I was a kid. I was a “latch key child”. I’d come home from school turn on the TV and go through a package of graham crackers, a glass of milk, maybe a bowl of cereal, and some days I would eat a few spoonfuls of brown sugar to top it off. I would watch TV usually until I heard my mom pull into the driveway an hour or two later. Then after dinner I’d watch another hour usually two hours of TV. Today when I see kids outside playing, I want to go and shake their hands. I want to congratulate them on a start to a healthy life and better memories than episodes of Scooby-Doo.

A lot of adults don’t even encourage their kids to go outside and play. Maybe it’s laziness because it means they might have to go out too and throw the football with them. Maybe adults are plagued by the same society kids are. The society and culture that says no one has to get up and move anymore. Technological and entertainment “advancements” have ensured that none of us will ever have to move ever again.

What is it going to take to have a massive lifestyle change across our country? I am honestly not sure, but I think education and producing good habits at an early age is key. Parents need to take an active roll. It will take a lot of effort, which I know Americans hate, we all want the quick fix. Our medical community is more advanced than any other country. But it has not achieved much with our lifestyles ever countering it. Our country spends more on medicine than any other country in the world, but our life expectancy ranks 20th.

Unfortunately there are a lot of road blocks to lifestyle change. The conspiracy theorist part of me feels like our government does not want a lifestyle change in America. A large portion of our economy is based on our poor lifestyles; (fast food, alcohol, cigarettes, TVs, cars, video games etc.) But surely they have some economic education and realize our economy would not crash, it would just shift to other industries making the big bucks; (natural foods, health clubs, sporting equipment, out door gear, etc.)

Why doesn’t the government make the health of its citizens a priority and head up a campaign to encourage activity. I don’t just mean the typical Washington campaign of hand shakes, ribbon cuttings, and lots of photo shoots. I mean an actual effort with people and money doing something good. I confess though, that I am pessimistic. I really don’t think our nation’s leaders care. The FDA can barely protect our food guide pyramid. We were just given a new pyramid, but during the process of designing it, different food industries were lobbying for their products serving sizes to be increased so they could increase profits. Why do we even have nutritionists and scientists if we’re not going to listen to them?

Our presidents have always tried to lead healthy looking lifestyles. Clinton was often teased about eating at McDonalds, but he was an avid runner. George W. Bush was also an avid runner until a foot injury. Now I understand he does a lot of cycling. Unfortunately none of our presidents have modeled health in their domestic or economic policies. The quickest fastest way to maintain and improve our economy means catering to all of our lusts: fast food, oil/cars, TV, sex, etc. Did you know that the majority of businesses that take advantage of our nation’s small business benefits are fast food chains? One would think chains would be exempt, but our government knows it boosts our economy to have more and more fast food restaurants. I can’t argue with that, but what about our nations health? Isn’t that worth anything?

When it comes to our nation’s health, we can knit pick at government policies that stack the odds against us, but at the end of the day or rather at the start of each day we all have a personal responsibility to ourselves and our families. Here is where I get a little preachy:

I encourage everyone to look into wellness programs at their places of employment. More and more companies are starting these programs because studies show less sick days are used when employees are healthier. A lot of people say they don’t have time in a day to work out. To them I cite a recent study that came out showing that two 15 minute bouts of exercise has more aerobic benefit than one 30 minute session. A short walk in the morning and another at night not only would increase your physical health, but it would be a great way to break up the stress of the day and also get some fresh air. Or even use part of your lunch break to get a little exercise. Another great way to break up the monotony of a work day is to look online for simple exercises that can be done at work in an office or just sitting at your chair. On weekends try to do something recreational with friends or family (hike, bike, learn a new sport, anything). Park your car out in further parking spaces, or even ride your bike to the grocery store if you only have a few items to get. There is so much we can all do to improve our quality of life, but it takes some effort and a lot of ignoring our excuses.