Nature vs. Nurture

No, this isn’t what you think it’s about. But you might be able to apply it to multiple conditions.

My mom was watching a documentary on kids with Tourette’s last night. (Only for a little bit, though, Dad wanted to watch Big Brother.) And I couldn’t help but get frustrated at some of the things that were happening with these kids.

I have some friends with what I suppose you would call “low level” Tourette’s, where it’s just some sort of physical movement that they don’t have control over. But the kids on this show were barking, and screaming, and talking in weird voices, and swearing…and claiming that it was a completely different person, and they have no recollection when the go into a tantrum.

Now what I found interesting was that when I looked into the history of Tourette’s, it has only recently become a more common occurrence in children.

(This is where I become an insensitive jerk)

I told my mom last night when we were watching the show that the kids were making most of it up themselves in order to get attention. She was obviously appalled, but funny enough, the next section of the show talked about how the kids are acting out on their own. They followed three kids with Tourette’s to a “summer camp” for other Tourette’s sufferers. Oddly enough, their “tics” were reduced dramatically.

Now there are two options for this: they aren’t under the “stress” that they are put under when dealing with unaffected kids at school, or they know that they won’t get attention from these kids that are employing the same tactics.

I know that seems cold, but think about this. Our society has recently been diagnosis-happy in the last decade or so. We’ve seen the evolution of things like A.D.D., learning disorders, and now Tourette’s. Is it a coincidence that these cases are exponentially growing? I don’t think so.

Instead of making your kid concentrate, you say he has A.D.D. and give him some Ritalin. Instead of taking time to teach your child to read, he has to have a learning disorder. And instead of having control over your kid’s overactive emotions, you allow them to act on every thought, and claim that it is Tourette’s.

You think back in the ‘50’s they would allow some kid to run around barking at people and shouting profanities and claim that they have no control over it? I don’t think so. We have just become so sensitive to such disorders that saying things like I am saying now are appalling and offensive.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are some kids that have legitimate mental problems, and those should be sought out and treated. But realize that if you tell a child that they have a condition, they will learn what they are allowed to do, and take it to the limit. I just wish parents would try good old fashioned “shut your mouth” tactics before calling up their therapist.

Send your complaints to neely.d.adkins@gmail.com

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