What do you think so many of today's kids have Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?

Personally, I don't think that many kids do. Everyone wants to pin a reason on something. Your kid doesn't like to sit and do his homework, he's noisy in class, he's constantly going all day long... what in the world can be wrong? So the school tests them (and I don't know if you've ever been tested for ADD but the tests are EXTREMLY vague) and what do you know, they have ADD. So you medicate them and the teacher's job is A LOT easier. I agree that some people DO need the medication, but the diagnosis is giving far too freely.

One theory on this is that people are more aware of it and so more likely to diagnose it.

Another theory is that because kids spend so much time in front of the TV and/or computer they get less exercise and that makes the disorder worse (too much excess energy that doesn't get burned off or something)

A third theory (this one is more for adults with ADHD, but it applies to kids too) is that because our society is so much faster paced now than even 20 or 30 years ago people with ADHD just stand out more. In a slower paced environment where there are fewer demands a person with ADHD is more likely to be able to function as well as everyone else. When the expectation is that a kid will do well in school, complete all his/her homework, play soccer, take ballet, and practice the piano for an hour everyday, the kid with ADHD is suddenly at a huge disadvantage and much more likely to be noticed as *different*.

Hope that helps!

Kids consume too much sugar and don't burn off enough energy. Kids may also act that way to get attention. Families are just busier nowadays and kids feel like they need to act up to be noticed. Too many kids would rather play video games than go outside and play or be involved in a sport. It all stems from parenting. Allowing children to stay inside playing video games on a beautiful day instead going outside is poor judgement. Keeping too many sugary foods in the house is poor judgement. When parents wonder why their kids act up the way they do, the first thing to do is look at the way they're parenting. I do this all the time and more often than not, I find that I am contributing to the problem and at that point, I can adjust my parenting accordingly.

More are being diagnosed and misdiagnosed because normal childhood behavior is being mistaken for ADHD. Might also be from too much pressure on a child. Almost everything is education these days, and some kids don't have any toys that are just for fun - they are all educational toys. Some kids can't focus on things because they are too hard, may be feeling some anxious feelings, etc.

While I do believe that some people and kids truly have ADD, I do not believe that many of the people "diagnosed" these days truly have it.

It is an easy fix to put kids on drugs.

Teachers and other people who are not credentialed at all claim that a child has ADD and parents just assume they are "professionals" and take their word for it.

I think it's terribly sad and wrong.

I frankly do not believe that they do. I think that too many parents give in to their children's every whim, then the teacher won't and the kid feels rejected, has a little hissy fit, and suddenly he is being drugged.

Children cannot run a household. They just do not have the experience for it. But many many many of them do in this country.

ADD and ADHD have always been around it is just that now that can test for it and diagnose it more accurately. If you were to look at a PET scan of a an ADD/ ADHD persons brain you would see the difference compared to looking at a nromal persons PET scan. Yes it is often over diagnosed but if you do the proper testing for it you can easily know if the person truely has it. My son has ADD but my daughter who was tested only because the school wanted me to take her to be tested does not have ADD but has a diagnosis of ADD tendencies. I do think to many docs diganose it without proper testing.

Because they are bad a** children whose parents are too pre-occupied or too brain washed to realize a behind warming (not beating) will not psychologically damage them for the rest of their lives. Obviously 'reasoning' with a child that is calling you a b and telling you no in the supermarket isn't working or making a lasting impression on them.

because its too easy to diagnose, I had a friend who behaved like a psycho, and his mum would just say, oh he is adhd, nothing i can do about it. Parents dont punish there kids so the kids get away with it and never learn to behave. I think 1 in 50 adhd people actually have it.

Hi,, because they cannot get out all their energy on the playground anymore, they are not required to take PE, and they have all this built up inside them..

Plus, they cause disturbance in class and the teacher cannot take them out in the hall and paddle their disrespectful behinds anymore, because it is grounds of a jail sentence....

There for, they have to dope these hyperactive kids with medicine to calm them down.... plain and simple.....

good luck