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.”