Enough is enough. Modern society has come up with an excuse for just about everything. Is anybody really accountable for their actions? Or are we all just victims of some pre-existing conditon? Do we suffer from some deep disorder? Or is it just a sinful nature that we like to try to cover up in technical or medical terms? Are we so busy looking for the magic pill to fix our problems that we will take any medication on the market just as long as we don't have to work for the solution?
Yesterday, these thoughts ran through my head as I discussed a boy in Nicole's class. The boy has just come into her class, and he presents special problems because he has Oppositonal Defiant Disorder (ODD). And since the child has been diagnosed with ODD, he can be defiant and disobey in class while the other kids are supposed to be good. As you can imagine, this makes life difficult in the classroom because kindergarteners are big on equality and justice. They want to know why one kid can get away with something while others cannot. Strangely, this seems to be true of adults too???
According to a Web site on child disorders, ODD is a real sickness. Just listen to what the experts have to say: "In children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), there is an ongoing pattern of uncooperative, defiant, and hostile behavior toward authority figures that seriously interferes with the youngster's day to day functioning. Symptoms of ODD may include: frequent temper tantrums, excessive arguing with adults, active defiance,refusal to comply with adult requests and rules,
deliberate attempts to annoy or upset people, blaming others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior, often being touchy or easily annoyed by others, frequent anger and resentment, mean and hateful talking when upset, and prone to seek revenge."
ODD seems to me like it could be just another cleaver excuse used by misguided psychologists to spare children corporal punishment. I agree with God, sometimes a child just needs a good attitude adjustment session (aka - firm spanking on the bare butt) to help him get a better perspective on life. Children need discipline and boundaries. These guide rails protect children and help them develop a sense of right and wrong.
ODD may be a legitimate sickness for a few kids. But it seems more like basic human nature to me - something that we all suffer from. Why do we have to jump to classify bad behavior as some kind of disorder. If you look long enough, you could say that everyone has something wrong with them. If you ask enough shrinks, you would fine everybody being medicated to fix the things about us that need to be changed. Are we too quick to pop a pill when old fashioned hard work may be the best answer? Are we prone to classify something as a disorder just because it is not the ideal?
When do we reach the limit and stop looking at every spot on the record as a disorder? Sometimes I just want to quit trying to figure life out. I would just hang up a sign that says "Out of Disorder" and then go about doing whatever I want. If anybody asks me what I am doing, "I would simply point to the sign and say that I can't help myself."
