Attention Deficit

Note: I’ve lectured on this subject for over 10 years. This will be the first time I’ve placed my collective thoughts into print. I’ll present the topic as a series of essays.

The Soviet Menace vs. Dennis the Menace

In the late 1950s, when Dennis the Menace was just beginning to annoy his neighbor, Mr. Wilson, certain dynamics would once again change the face of education; our nemesis, the Soviet Union, launched Sputnik. The Soviet Sputnik program involved the launch of a series of man-made satellites after testing their viability through unmanned space vehicles. The cold-war fear of the Soviet Union and their possible nuclear superiority also led to the creation of NASA.

Sputnik prompted the U.S. government to increase spending on scientific research and education. This led to the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). The NDEA provided federal money for increased instruction in math & science, as well as foreign language. Another important feature of the NDEA was the forgiveness of loans for higher education; educational expenses for prospective elementary and secondary teachers could be waived. The thrust of the NDEA also reasserted emphasis on academic fundamentals like reading, writing, and arithmetic.

So, now children in the Henry Ford production line model of education, tempered by John Dewey’s experiential, nurturing educational philosophy, were exposed to changes to curriculum based on society’s fear of satellites. Strangely enough, even with the crazy dynamics of the times, children with attention problems existed; however, they were viewed quite differently than today’s ADHD children and actually survived and thrived quite well. Nurturing was expected and practiced at school, boundaries were set and maintained; if you got in trouble at school, you were likely to be in twice as much trouble when you got home. Furthermore, without the demands of incredibly stringent testing in all grades, ADHD children could were not exposed to the demands currently place on them.

But this would change within a decade or so. Due to the emphasis on science and math, curriculum began to be pushed downward. What was once taught at first year university was now being pushed to junior and senior years in high school. Junior and senior high curriculums were pushed downward as well. Over the years, this chain of curriculum change found its way all down to kindergarten. More tests were now needed to assess whether the curriculum changes initiated by both federal and state mandates were making our children smarter and more competitive with the rest of the world.

Another dynamic was causing social change. With an ensuing space race and advancing technology, a new core value system was in play; happiness comes through owning material things like new technology or the next best automobile. To get more things and therefore be happy, one had to make more money. To make more money one had to pursue higher education. To get the opportunity to pursue higher education, make more money, and be happy, one had to perform better at school.

I won’t argue philosophically about material goods bringing happiness, but most research indicates this is not so. What’s important to note here is that we have a definite class system in place; those who perform well at school have access to higher education and happiness, and those who are cast out of higher education to go to technical or trade schools, make less money and are less happy. That’s the perception, anyway.

The other articles in the series "The Evolution of ADHD, Education, and Drugs in America" can be found below.

1. Dennis the Menace
2. Henry Ford and Education
3. Henry Ford vs. Dennis the Menace
4. Soviet Menace vs. Dennis the Menace
5. Sigmund Freud vs. Dennis the Menace