What's wrong with our youth? Is it a psychosocial disorder? Is it the parents?

[cheerfulgreek]

I'm in the library a lot, so I'll have to do some research on this topic, because I honestly don't think I'm wrong at all on this issue.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by 33girl

But I do think the growing dependence on meds doesn't help.

Too many kids are getting put on meds for things that are just....CHILDHOOD...and then if they go off them or change the dosage, needless to say it's going to freak a developing brain/nervous system out.

I agree largely with this assessment based on my daily experiences.

Most of "my kids" are on medicaid and come from families that unfortunately will always be dependent on that program. Our state medicaid program here apparently writes checks for an extra $500 a month (approximately) to parents with children who are diagnosed with ADHD. More and more parents are bringing their kids into our office to be diagnosed with this disorder. I'll grant that some of these children genuinely do have ADHD but most do not and dont even display any kind of hyperactivity while in the doctor's office atleast. We've had parents go as far as bringing in 6 month old babies to be diagnosed with ADHD--no joke. A lot of the behavior begins in the home with parenting or lack of parenting.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

I'm in the library a lot, so I'll have to do some research on this topic, because I honestly don't think I'm wrong at all on this issue.

You can do all the research you want on the topic, but you might not know it happens unless you've seen it in person. In middle school, i've seen kids heads bashed in on the blacktop. Cops were a regular occurance there. In high school, our star track athlete severely broke a girl's nose because they were fighting over a boy.

Things like that happened often when I was younger.

[UGAalum94]

Violence and amorality/immorality isn't new, but you can find studies that show that rates of arrest and incarceration for girls particularly have increased.

I think the nature of media, especially the internet, may make us more aware of news stories we wouldn't have heard about 20 years ago, so some of our sense of an increase may be because we just hear about more, but there's data that points to a trend too.

[DSTRen13]

I work in retail at the moment. I don't know how parents were, but wow ... Most of the ones I encounter make me cringe. Still, I can't imagine that each generation doesn't have its own parenting issues. Maybe it is the drugs.

[luv n tpa]

You need a license to drive, but anyone can have kids. Parents.

I just love the things I have seen from years of babysitting, albeit not necessarily violent behavior being referenced. When I was a kid, we went out side to play, amused ourselves. You could give me a 6 inch piece of yellow string and I'd have a blast. Nowadays, kids will sit and stare at me asking what can they do next. I have to lay out a $30 craft that will be destroyed in 10 days. They just don't know how to entertain themselves anymore.

One family just decided not to deal with their girls yelling and screaming. My first day, I was told to give them candy if they got upset or fresh with me because it would make them stop.

Last semester, I had a mom who actually asked me to teach her kids things. Fine and dandy. Apparently I was teaching them the word "no" because they had never heard it from their parents before. The son also, I swear, must've had ADHD. I would drop hints to her about my cousin with similar symptoms, and she'd reply with something like, "Well it's a good thing my son would never behave like that."

The girls I have now are so refreshing and .. normal. They have friends that come over from time to time, however, that are not even close. Just today I had to teach one of their guests that ripping things out of someone else's hand was wrong. "I want it. It's mine. I'll tell my mom and you'll be sorry." Seven years old. Mom comes by to pick her up, "Oh. Well she doesn't like to share. Nothing I can do."

WHAT?!

[RU OX Alum]

Originally Posted by ThetaPrincess24

I agree largely with this assessment based on my daily experiences.

Most of "my kids" are on medicaid and come from families that unfortunately will always be dependent on that program. Our state medicaid program here apparently writes checks for an extra $500 a month (approximately) to parents with children who are diagnosed with ADHD. More and more parents are bringing their kids into our office to be diagnosed with this disorder. I'll grant that some of these children genuinely do have ADHD but most do not and dont even display any kind of hyperactivity while in the doctor's office atleast. We've had parents go as far as bringing in 6 month old babies to be diagnosed with ADHD--no joke. A lot of the behavior begins in the home with parenting or lack of parenting.

hyperactive behavior isn't neccecary to have ADHD, they just realized that, neurologically speaking, ADD and ADHD are the same thing, so they combined them.

i agree that the 6 month old babies having it is absurd

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by epchick

You can do all the research you want on the topic, but you might not know it happens unless you've seen it in person. In middle school, i've seen kids heads bashed in on the blacktop. Cops were a regular occurance there. In high school, our star track athlete severely broke a girl's nose because they were fighting over a boy.

Things like that happened often when I was younger.

Wow! What kind of neighborhood was your school located in? Geez.

[cheerfulgreek]

o.k. I did a little research on this topic. Here's what I found.

I was right. It has gotten worse. What you guys said about this not being new material was correct, but the problem has gotten worse. There's a book on psychosocial disorders in young people. There's a child psychiatrist and a criminologist that both said there has been a steady rise in youth crime following the 2nd World War averaging a fivefold increase from 1950 to 1990. They weren't just talking about the U.S though. They were talking about developed countries including the U.S.

There was also a psychiatrist that said there are two distinct types of teen criminals. She said that one very common type takes up petty crime in adolescence, based on peer pressure. The other is what I was talking about earlier. She said the other was more problematic, and they start showing signs of antisocial behavior in kindergarten. She said that these kids have biological predispositions to behavior problems. That was pretty much my point. I want to add something to what she was saying. I think this paired with an environment of bad parenting, poverty or abuse puts these kids at high risk of committing violent crimes and spending their lives in and out of the prison system. I don't think it's all genetics.

I also looked at more data from other material, and I found that in both boys and girls who went on to become criminals were likely to have shown some kind of early onset neurological impairment or difficult temperament early in life as young as age 3. The graph that I was looking at also showed an increase.

So how am I wrong. I'm not saying you guys are wrong, because you've made some valid points, but I'm not wrong on the whole issue either.

[nikki1920]

I think its a bit of both. We now have names for behaviors, which leads some parents to make an excuse for "normally bad" behavior. You also have the proliferation of prescription drugs and a lot of doctors who are willing to write those prescriptions. A lot of times simple parenting and child development classes would do both the child and the parent some good.

Re: Medicaid and checks. I do this every day. Many parents are quick to get their kids labeled ADD, ADHD, Autistic, or *insert issue here* to get a Social Security Disability Income check. Thetaprincess, is that what you are talking about? Medicaid doesn't write checks to recpients if they can avoid it at all. If a person receives SSDI, which is currently $637 per month, that person can also receive Medicaid. I've seen children with very minor developmental issues whose parents go through hoops to get that check, and they don't need it, finanacially and vice versa. (Kid born at 27 weeks, blind, no swallow reflex, needs help breathing and has a DNR on her medical reports--do not resuscitate--and mom thinks she's completely normal)

[RU OX Alum]

hijack:

my personal case study/history published as memoirs with commentary/introductions by a docotor would make a lot of people a lot of money

/hijack

[Educatingblue]

Definitely the parents! Very few parents want to discipline their children these days. They would rather medicate or allow someone else to deal with the problem (I cannot STAND the parents who are in denial). We need more accountability for the parents and the children.

I am sick and tired of children getting in trouble and their first reaction is, "My Mother/Father is not going to do anything!" There are a lot of people who do not believe in spanking or whatever, but when I was growing up 20+ years ago, I knew the consequences for my actions...getting my a** beat. No questions asked.

[AKA_Monet]

My thing is I am reading several psychology books--not textbooks--but folks personal perspectives and they asked how does smacking a child around teach him or her anything about better behavior?

And the trainers do not do it with the animals they train... Hence their minds are not much more than a human 4-6 year old--therefore, if we can do it for Shamu then how come we cannot do it for humans? At least this is the current thought for disciplining children in the books I am reading.

I think corporal punishment should be in place for kids. I do not think it should borderline abuse, be it physical or verbal. However, that the child will know when behavior is appropriate and when it is not. When it is acceptable and when it is not.

Also, the animal trainers also ignore a baby's cries when everything has been done, such as feeding, burping, changing diapers (if a primate) and bedding. Babies do need coddling for appropriate neural connections to form. Most people barely give them that, so the connections fail to form. However, animals and humans are strikingly different--animals are always in survival mode; whereas humans are thought to use higher ordered intellect to outsmart their would-be predators. We are not always taking flight or fighting--yet...

[epchick]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

Wow! What kind of neighborhood was your school located in? Geez.

Its not about the neighborhood...even schools in the "good" areas weren't perfect. You'll always have rotten apples in the bunch.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by epchick

Its not about the neighborhood...even schools in the "good" areas weren't perfect. You'll always have rotten apples in the bunch.

I know. I was only kidding with you.

What I bolded is SO true.