You can’t teach intelligence!
A friend recently moved to a new home and in the process had
to move her two lovely daughters to a new school. Apparently in the state of Washington it is
appropriate to send a letter of recommendation along with the child to the new
teacher. Curious, of course, as to the
contents of the letter my friend opened them both up only to be enraged by one
of them. The youngest one, 5 year old
Lucy, was portrayed as being difficult to get along with others, she talks too
much, and doesn’t raise her hand before blurting out answers. Have you been paying attention folks? The next step will be to put her on some
behavior medicine to stop her ADD. Yes, that
is what some teacher would recommend and some doctor would prescribe. “For the betterment of the whole class” no
doubt.
Now I am no doctor, but I am a parent. And I have seen this behavior before. My Daughter, my Son, and my three
Step-children have all exhibited this behavior.
They would go from good grades, to poor grades and from good behavior to
not-so-good behavior and oft time were bored to death in school. In third grade we took my daughter out of
traditional school and began to teach her at home for the next two years. My son went to school through his first
semester of freshman year in high school and then dropped out. My youngest step-son was told that he was cheating
because he didn’t show his work on his math problems, my middle step-son was so
overly involved with commentary in his class that when the teacher arrogantly
asked him if he would like to teach the class he said yes. And my oldest step-child, Tara, she demonstrated
ODD! She fought for the underdog, she
bucked authority, and she protected her brothers like a mother lion and her
cubs.
All 5 of them are still fighting with the acceptance of the
traits that they were told were disruptive and inappropriate for school. But when you look at them versus many of
their classmates they are more successful.
None of them were put on behavior altering medicine and each of them is
intelligent beyond their years (at some point I will reveal the incredible
journeys that each have experienced). But
the greater lesson here is that we have accepted the premise that in a school
setting that disruptive children are less intelligent and are headed down a
destructive path. I laugh! HA! I
know better. These are the children that
you cannot teach intelligence. They are
already brimming with it! What must be
done is to recognize it and encourage it!
Direct it in the path of their individual interests! And most important do not discourage their
curiosity.
If I could only give you one example (there are thousands)
then I would encourage you to read about the life of one, Thomas A. Edison.
“Learning can be
provided, but intelligence is a gift!”
I had to look up what ODD was and found this article: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd-web/article/4646.html
ReplyDelete... which made me laugh out loud... literally! Just because a child does not follow the "traditional" norms in relation to socially acceptable behavior does not mean that they are simply impulsive as the page states (“They misbehave not because they’re intentionally oppositional, but because they can’t control their impulses.”). I was the most straight laced kid, never defiant, never bucking the rules, until i learned a HUGE lesson in 5ht grade. This lesson was super important to the formation of my life and my outlook. I learned that there are people who take advantage of and manipulate others because they KNOW we are trained to be socially obedient, and while there are benefits to "fitting in", there are also many ramifications. One of which includes allowing perceived power to manipulate the system to their advantage. I could no longer stand by and watch as innocent children, friends, were harmed by this behavior. I had the strength, and they didn't. Whether it was something I was born with, or taught, I had that strength to stand up and say, "No, this is wrong, and you are wrong if you think this type of behavior is acceptable." And because I had they ability, that strength, it meant that I had to speak up. I have to speak up. And I will continue to speak up for ANY child or adult who has the courage to RESPECTFULLY push the boundaries, ask questions, and stand up for themselves and others not nearly as strong as them. Its easy to negatively categorize people who buck society, because it makes following the rules blindly much easier on our conscience.
To those children who have been labeled: hone your skills, learn respect, and focus that energy on something productive.
Note: I am not angry for the categorization, but I think its funny that there is a category for who I am. I am PROUD of who I am in relation to speaking up when things are wrong. There are VERY few of us, and I can tell you, for every ONE that i upset with my outspokenness, there were many, many more who came to me quietly, thanking me for standing up and saying something.
Great Feedback, Tara! And FYI, I did not think you had ODD! What this was about was that what other people think about you is often a reflection on them...not on you!
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