COUNSELING AND CONSULTATION ASSOCIATES, INC.COUNSELING AND CONSULTATION ASSOCIATES, INC.
Phillip L. Blansett, Ph.D.
Stephanie S. Blansett, R.N., C
2176 North Mount Juliet Road, Suite 201
Mount Juliet, Tennessee 37122-3070
(615) 758-7568
Website: serve.com/Blansett
Email: Blansett@mail.datarealm.com
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Neighbors Helping Neighbors in Parenting
by
Phillip L. Blansett, Ph.D.
Last week's article began with the revelation of fact that American children consume 90% of the world's Ritalin. 12% of all American school boys take Ritalin. That really struck me as an awesome fact when I first learned it. Reasoning why scared me even more. It can't be that Ritalin is unavailable or less available else where. That simply isn't true. Nor can it be that there are more American Children than children from other countries in the world. And, it isn't true that Ritalin is cheaper in the United States than elsewhere in the world. So, why would you think that 90% of the world's Ritalin is consumed in the United States by American children, more often that not being consumed at school and dispensed by public school teachers. Why? Don't the possibilities frighten you? Are our children that dysfunctional compared with children across the world? I have no answers to this dilemma, just some facts which I share as I learn them. Here is another astounding fact: every year 34 million Americans try to stop smoking and 98% fail. And to make it worse, since most smokers begin before their eighteenth birthday, every smoker is a failed millionaire. Smoking a package a day costs a smoker $150.00 a month. If an 18 year old invests $150.00 a month into a safe, conservative mutual fund, by the time he is middle aged, he will have compounded it into savings well over one million dollars. Go figure. But it is admittedly hard to figure when one is high on Ritalin, which is, of course, a form of speed. There are other things that are difficult to figure, even if you are not on speed or other drugs, prescribed or not. In my child, adolescent and family therapy practice, I'm seeing an increase of late adolescent rebellion in homes that have been child centered for that child's whole life. Parents are shocked that the child they had devoted countless hours to at practices and games have taken a dive into some pretty horrible behavior. Here is how the scenario often goes. The child in involved in youth sports. Maybe it's little league, youth football, soccer, swimming, or some other team sport. The parent(s) participate at every opportunity, driving the child to practices, games, competitions, summer specialty camps and so on. Then, in high school, when the teen is cut from a team, injured or just decides to drop out of sports, the parent sees the real child, often for the first time. It's easy to behave when your physical strength is being constantly measured, when you are under the control of either a parent, teacher, coach or trainer all of your waking moments. But when those constraints are removed, often suddenly and all at once, the teen has the opportunity maybe never experienced before, to "act out". And parents are heard to mutter, "Where in the world did that child come from." So, we have some loose ends to tie up before the end of the century: Ritalin, Discipline, Smoking, and Positive Parenting: our plate is indeed full.
Next week we'll continue to examine how neighbors can help neighbors in parenting.
Dr. Phillip Blansett is a psychotherapist in private practice in Nashville and West Wilson County.
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