Over-stimulating our Kids

I've always blamed Sesame Street for overstimulating our kids, but once I got to thinking about it, we children of the '60s (and '70s) have done that to them from birth. Remember when the big deal was to have big black and white shapes all around the baby's room, or bright colors, to stimulate and engage? Then Sesame Street hyperactivity took over for us until our children moved on to video games, txting, and MySpace with its flashing over-informing nature. Even news programs like CNN that have a picture, a picture in a picture, a crawl and a spike or zoom feature perpetuate the absorption of too much data at any given time.

Gee, and we thought it was the sugar!

The not-so-funny thing is that our overstimulated children have a problem going to a boring, stifling classroom with a teacher instructing them to sit in their seats, or sit in a reading circle or sit...anywhere! So it seems if we spent so much time getting our children to think a thousand thoughts a second, the solution to this would be to find a way to continue the child's learning in much the same way. Big video screens flashing times tables with big yellow birds or purple dinos rewarding each progression. But no, that wouldn't be school then, would it? School is rigid, is rules, is dictated by some Charlie Brown grownup determined to keep the classroom under control. (Do I hear Pink Floyd?) It wouldn't be prudent to consider anything other than under-stimulating the bodies in an effort to train the mind. (Did you notice I said "train", not "engage"?) So a label was given to those children who were unable to quickly (and quietly) calm their spirited natures - Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder - or ADHD to us parents who had to say it a lot. And once you have a label, the pharmaceuticals must come up with a CURE. Oh yeah, now we're talking. But you don't want to get me started. That's a blog for another day. Suffice it to say that we either need to change how we develop our young ones or the school system needs to change its dynamic. Any wagers on who will win?