Re: [OS:N:] Re: ADD

[Marco Fioretti <m fioretti inwind it>]

On Mon, Sep 30, 2002 09:11:31 at 09:11:31AM -0700, ekunin wrote:
> 
> remark about kids going off medication in the summer, I passed the
> information on because as I saw it, it demonstrated a connection between
> school and ADD which I believe exists but for which I had no proof. As for

I am no doctor, and have no direct experience of ADD. Said this, I 
must confess that when I read this opinions of yours in your original
message, I wondered if you weren't looking in the wrong direction. I
cannot help but ask myself if what made drugs superfluous in
summer camp was not the distance from {autoritarian/misguided
teachers}, but a break in the custom of spending too many hours alone,
without any built-in or parental filtering, in front of a TV, PC
screen or game console.  

> camp not requiring concentration, I don't see that as true. Games, arts and
> crafts, drama and a host of other activities require concentration, the
> difference being the subject matter is interesting and there is no one to
> mark them lousy.
> 

Again, what made the difference might just have been the change from
frenetic, often lonely activities to more relaxed group ones, outdoor,
with other real kids and enthusiast adult supervisors.

I am perfectly aware that every kid is different, and that school
could only gain from being more similar to summer camp: that has been
acknowledged (whatever you or I might think of the implementation) at
least since 1907, when the Scout movement was founded. It is a
different problem, however, and cannot certainly be solved leaving the
kids alone.

	Ciao,
		Marco Fioretti
(we should probably continue off list, if you want to answer, we are
going really off topic now...)    
-- 
We have to pursue this subject of fun very seriously if we
want to stay competitive in the 21st century. -George Yeo,
     Singapore's Minister of State for Finance.