In other words, many children diagnosed with ADHD may simply be bright, normal kids, full of energy and bored out of their minds sitting in public-school classrooms.

In his testimony to Pennsylvania House Democratic Policy Committee, Bruce Wiseman, National President of Citizens Commission on Human Rights, stated that “thousands of children put on psychiatric drugs are simply ‘smart.’” He quoted late Sydney Walker, a psychiatrist and neurologist, as saying,

“They’re hyper not because their brains don’t work right, but because they spend most of day waiting for slower students to catch up with them. These students are bored to tears, and people who are bored fidget, wiggle, scratch, stretch, and (especially if they are boys) start looking for ways to get into trouble."

Boredom is not only reason children can exhibit symptoms of ADHD. Perfectly normal children who are over-active (have a lot of energy), rebellious, impulsive, day-dreamers, sensitive, undisciplined, bored easily (because they are bright), slow in learning, immature, troubled (for any number of reasons), learning disabled (dyslexia, for example), can also be inattentive, impulsive, or hyperactive.

Also, many factors outside classroom can stress or emotionally affect children. Some of these factors are: not getting love, closeness, or attention from their parents; if a parent, friend, or sibling is sick or dies; if parents are divorcing and there is anger, shouting, or conflict at home; domestic violence at home; sexual, physical, or emotional abuse by parents or siblings; inattention and neglect at home; personality clashes with parents or siblings; envy or cruelty directed at a child by classmates or by siblings at home, and many other factors.

My First Experience

I was very young, and one of my baby teeth became abscessed – not a pleasant feeling. Anyway, it was my father’s duty to take me to dentist. In dentist office, I was told to swish some strong, green liquid in my mouth and spit it out. I was to do that until all liquid in glass was gone – then go back to dentist chair and sit down.

I, being obedient child, did as I was told. I swished and spit, and once done, climbed into dentist chair. I did not have a clue of what was going to happen next, until of course, dentist told me to open my mouth and began to pull my tooth out. Low and behold, green liquid I had swished in my mouth was antiseptic! Well, surprise, surprise – it didn’t work!

With my father holding me down in chair, I felt every pain, heard every grinding sound – and experience remained alive and strong in my memory—a memory that followed me throughout my childhood and into adulthood.