By Gina Brindisi , Staff Writer, Emerson College
It was my first day teaching my own gymnastics class and I was nervous. I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle a bunch of energetic seven to nine year olds on my own. After all, I was just fifteen. To make matters worse, I was warned by a co-worker to “watch out for Brianna.” I was told that she had severe Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and could sometimes be difficult to handle. Now I was extremely worried. I didn’t think I was up to the task.
I didn’t have an option though, so I gathered my eager gymnasts, brought them over to the uneven bars, and tried to learn their names. It turns out there were two Briannas. “Just my luck,” I thought. How was I supposed to provide this girl with the extra attention she needed if I didn’t even know who she was?
Throughout the class I observed the two Briannas as best as I could. I tried desperately to figure out which Brianna had ADD, but I found myself struggling to identify her. No one in the class screamed “I have ADD.” In fact, they all screamed “rambunctious.” They were all energetic, talkative, and absent-minded. It was in that class I realized that, by today’s standards, ADD just translates to being a kid.
Children by nature are bursting with energy; it is how they operate. It just seems like parents can’t quite cope with said energy and they bring them to the doctor complaining that their child has trouble controlling their energy or has “outbursts.” They’re nonchalantly diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and their lives are altered forever as they consume pills every morning and receive different and possibly unnecessary attention in schools and other environments.
What is overlooked in this epidemic of over-diagnosing ADD is how the child is affected. A child grows up with an unwarranted mental disability stapled to their back for their entire life. They think they are supposed to act out in class due to their alleged disability and so they do. They think they are supposed to lag behind the rest of the students with regard to their education, and so they do. They conform to the stereotype they were wrongly placed under and travel a different path in life than they would have had their parents not pushed for a diagnosis.
I’m not speaking as a child diagnosed with ADD. I am, however, speaking as someone who has a lot of experience working with children with ADD. Brianna was not my last child I had in a class that was accompanied by a similar warning. In fact, she was one of many. In the beginning, every time I received a warning, I felt myself treating the situation delicately. Looking back, I know it was not fair. They aren’t children with a mental disability. They are just children trying to enjoy their childhood. They are just children who are victims to todays society and judgments. They are helpless; it is unjust.
Gina is a freshman Writing, Literature & Publishing major with a minor in Journalism. Originally from Long Island she is 100% Italian and proud of it but she is obsessed with anything related to France!
It was my first day teaching my own gymnastics class and I was nervous. I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle a bunch of energetic seven to nine year olds on my own. After all, I was just fifteen. To make matters worse, I was warned by a co-worker to “watch out for Brianna.” I was told that she had severe Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and could sometimes be difficult to handle. Now I was extremely worried. I didn’t think I was up to the task.
I didn’t have an option though, so I gathered my eager gymnasts, brought them over to the uneven bars, and tried to learn their names. It turns out there were two Briannas. “Just my luck,” I thought. How was I supposed to provide this girl with the extra attention she needed if I didn’t even know who she was?
Throughout the class I observed the two Briannas as best as I could. I tried desperately to figure out which Brianna had ADD, but I found myself struggling to identify her. No one in the class screamed “I have ADD.” In fact, they all screamed “rambunctious.” They were all energetic, talkative, and absent-minded. It was in that class I realized that, by today’s standards, ADD just translates to being a kid.
Children by nature are bursting with energy; it is how they operate. It just seems like parents can’t quite cope with said energy and they bring them to the doctor complaining that their child has trouble controlling their energy or has “outbursts.” They’re nonchalantly diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and their lives are altered forever as they consume pills every morning and receive different and possibly unnecessary attention in schools and other environments.
What is overlooked in this epidemic of over-diagnosing ADD is how the child is affected. A child grows up with an unwarranted mental disability stapled to their back for their entire life. They think they are supposed to act out in class due to their alleged disability and so they do. They think they are supposed to lag behind the rest of the students with regard to their education, and so they do. They conform to the stereotype they were wrongly placed under and travel a different path in life than they would have had their parents not pushed for a diagnosis.
I’m not speaking as a child diagnosed with ADD. I am, however, speaking as someone who has a lot of experience working with children with ADD. Brianna was not my last child I had in a class that was accompanied by a similar warning. In fact, she was one of many. In the beginning, every time I received a warning, I felt myself treating the situation delicately. Looking back, I know it was not fair. They aren’t children with a mental disability. They are just children trying to enjoy their childhood. They are just children who are victims to todays society and judgments. They are helpless; it is unjust.
Gina is a freshman Writing, Literature & Publishing major with a minor in Journalism. Originally from Long Island she is 100% Italian and proud of it but she is obsessed with anything related to France!