I'm driving a shuttle route last night and most of the kids are fine, but a little boy, about 6, keeps standing up and jumping around in the back. Three times I have to get on the intercom, 'Sit Down!' I don't like being that guy, but kids in the aisle or standing up, that's dangerous.
So we get to the final drop-off point and as the boy is coming off I have him stand on top of the engine compartment and tell him that he has to do better sitting down, that he can't be jumping around on the bus. We're a quarter of the way through the school year, he knows this by now but he doesn't care. But then his brother, probably a year older and is waiting on him says, 'He can't sit down! He has ADHD and that's why he acts like this.'
To summarize: a seven-year-old is already making excuses for his younger brother as to why he is the way he is. Where did he learn these things? Most likely from his parents, who likewise make excuses for his unacceptable behavior. This child is likely to through life with people making excuses for him, instead of simply saying 'No, you can't do this.'
It's easy to bag on people I don't know well, but most kids really don't have ADHD. Most of them are simply over-sugared, over-caffeinated, over-stimulated, and under-disciplined. And when they act like this, everybody then looks for an excuse besides what's obvious. No wonder I have a headache.
