An image that reflects what is considered "average"

 

Description of the picture from The Agitator:

  

So this image purports to be a series of composites of the average woman from various countries and ethnicities. I was struck by how attractive they all are. This makes some sense when you think about it from an evolutionary perspective. But I think it’s also a little surprising because it’s not how we typically use the word average.

My thoughts exactly.   

A Crisis in American Biology Classrooms

 

Picture from Baloo's Cartoon Blog

This should be alarming to all who love science and truthfullness in education:

Researchers found that only 28 percent of biology teachers consistently follow the recommendations of the National Research Council to describe straightforwardly the evidence for evolution and explain the ways in which it is a unifying theme in all of biology. At the other extreme, 13 percent explicitly advocate creationism, and spend at least an hour of class time presenting it in a positive light.

That leaves what the authors call “the cautious 60 percent,” who avoid controversy by endorsing neither evolution nor its unscientific alternatives. In various ways, they compromise.

It is one thing for teachers to want to avoiding offending the beliefs of students, but it should not come at the expense of the truth.  End of discussion!

Medicine and ADHD

Picture from American Family Rights

I have been having a friendly debate with Lisa Nielsen over at the Innovative Educator blog recently about the use of medicine in children in ADHD. To paraphrase Nielsen's position the best way I can: pharmaceutical companies and doctors sponsored by big pharma are promoting the use of drugging children with ADHD, and profiting off of it. It is not that ADHD isn't a real disorder, but Nielsen believes that the real problem besides the influence of big pharma are that schools are too boring to keep the interest of students who have ADHD. So, rather than change the way lessons are taught, schools encourage parents to go to doctors, who will then put them on medication. Although I don't recall her saying anything like "medicine should NEVER be used on children with ADHD", that is what she seems to imply from everything I read from her on this subject. If I am incorrect in stating her position, I am sure Lisa Nielsen will correct me, as she should.

This debate of ours first started when I shared a story on a Ken Livingston video about changing the paradigm of education in America. I originally saw the video on Ms. Nielsen's website.   I said that while I agreed with Livingston's general arguments, I disagreed with the proposition that giving ADHD medication to children was one of society's more serious problems (I probably should have worded that with a little more detail and clarification). We debated this subject on Twitter, which inspired her to respond with a post dedicated to this subject. She has recently discussed this subject again on her blog here. Nielsen readily admits she is not a medical expert, but she does cite several medical experts who do say ADHD medication prescription to children is a serious problem. Nielsen herself says she either has ADHD, or likely has it, and has personal experience to draw upon.

I will admit I do not have the list of resources and articles that she does. I am sure if I took enough time to do the research, I could find lots support for the position that ADHD medication is a safe and effective option for treatment of ADHD in youth. All I am going to do is draw upon my own personal experience as someone who as ADHD practically his whole life.

I do not remember what age I was diagnosed with ADHD, nor do I remember when I started taking medication. The likely cause of my ADHD came from a series of seizures I had as a baby which were the result of negative reactions my body had from a particular childhood vaccination. I get the irony that I used one type of medication to help treat a medical condition that I received from another type of medication, but I digress. It wasn't just "boring schools" that my ADHD negatively effected, though it most certainly had an negative effect there.

My parents were often afraid to take me out in public because I might run around, decide to fiddle around or break expensive items in stores, or get lost. While listening to directions from adults can be difficult for any group of children, it was especially difficult for me. I am not referring to directions at school, but at fun, social events where instructions are often quite clear for most children. Instructions were often given in short, simple steps in subjects that were interesting to the children there (including myself), and often involved using one's hands or engaging in physical activity (day camps, scouting activities, athletics, etc).  Even then, my ADHD got in the way, and I would end up being confused with what I was supposed to do.  I would look quite foolish to my peers, and a great feeling ashamed happened because of this.

ADHD also effected my social upbringing. I was a very socially awkward child and had trouble making friends as a kids. There could be a number of other explanations for this, and I won't delve into most of those here (I don't want to use this blog as a personal therapy session more than I already am). But one reason for my social awkwardness was certainly my ADHD.  My impulsivity would cause me to instantly blurt things out whenever they came to my head.  What I said would often come out at inappropriate times, and the content of what I said could range from completely off-topic, to incredibly embarrassing statements and revelations.

As I said above, I don't remember when I took medication, but I know it was at a very young age (I am guessing around 6 years old or so).  I realize that all kids have a low attention span at that age, but mine was unusually poor for my age.  So much so, that it cause all of the problems I described in the preceding paragraphs.  And I know that growing up, medication did not stop all of my problems with ADHD.  It was not panacea for treating my ADHD.  I did received plenty of help and support from my parents, my special education teachers, and the few friends I had who were willing to look past my socially awkward behavior.  As I got into my teenage years, my parents and I wondered if it weren't perhaps time to go off of the medication.  We consulted with a physician, and I tried life without it.  I gave myself enough time to see if it could work, and it was a mess without the medication.  I soon went back on medication, and my problems immediately subsided

At this point in my life, I have full confidence that ADHD medication has been a positive factor in treating my ADHD, and I am better off because of it.  As I just metioned, it was not a panacea, and I also benefited greatly from lots of help and support from others.  However, I believe that my ADHD was so severe in my childhood that I would have been lost.  Not only would I have done more poorly in schools, but I believe my social skills, and capacity to do everyday life skills would have greatly suffered without the aid of medication.  I would rather not think about how my life could have turned out.

Now that I have gotten my story out the way, let me clarify some positions that I have on this subject.  Let me be clear: not every child that ADHD should be treated with medication.  Indeed, oftentimes, there aren't differences (in either behavior or academics) between ADHD children who take medicine and those who don't.  In fact, there are even times that children who take medication cannot handle the side effects of said medicine, and are better off without it.

I also worry greatly about the over-diagnosis of ADHD by physicians and psychologists, and the influence that pharmaceutical companies have had in promoting these drugs.  There is no doubt that for all of the good these companies can do with their medicine, they also benefit from profiteering and corruption.  This has lead to a major increase in the pushing of pill prescriptions that are either unnecessary, dangerous, or both. 

Finally, American schools are boring, and do not suit well for students with low-attention spans.  In fact, they don't even suit that well for students who don't fit into the traditional setting and methods of public schooling (pencil/paper/lecture/book/etc).  I am guilty of sometimes teaching in such a manner in my classroom, and I wish that we had more of a teaching culture that would look beyond such traditional methods.  It not as if we don't have good places to start.

When it comes to treating ADHD, I just don't believe that medication should be off the table.  It all comes down to having options.  The use of medication should be made by parents and their children if they are old enough to make reasonable decisions (with the advice and input of doctors).  I have benefited from the use of childhood medication as a treatment, and I know others who have as well.

A Video for Sunday

A hilarious spin on a song I used to sing at church growing up.

Evolution Made Us All from Ben Hillman on Vimeo.

The White Stripes: 1997-2011

RIP.  Rock music in the 2000s might have really sucked if it weren't for you.  A couple of songs to remember them by:

Global Warming Contributes to Snow Storms. No, Really.

 

Photo by David Eulitt/Kansas City Star

Right now, many parts of the country has either been hit, or is being hit with major winter snowstorms and blizzards.  This includes the Kansas City area where I live.  There are people who think that because of these massive winter storms, global warming is a myth.  Some of you might think Bill O'Reilly.  Actually O'Reilly does believe global warming is real, but did jokingly say recently that he he needs to call Al Gore to explain all of this snow.  Well, Al Gore responded in a piece to Huffington Post by quoting Clarence Paige in the Chicago Tribune:

"In fact, scientists have been warning for at least two decades that global warming could make snowstorms more severe. Snow has two simple ingredients: cold and moisture. Warmer air collects moisture like a sponge until it hits a patch of cold air. When temperatures dip below freezing, a lot of moisture creates a lot of snow."

"A rise in global temperature can create all sorts of havoc, ranging from hotter dry spells to colder winters, along with increasingly violent storms, flooding, forest fires and loss of endangered species."

History in Egypt, Part II

Photo from Huffington Post

It is now a matter of not if, but when Hosni Mubarak will step down as President of Egypt.  Everyone knows it, including the United States.  This is what he get's for three decades of economic neglect, torture (NSFW Video), suppressing democracy, and corruption.  Frankly, this says it all:

Photo from The Daily Dish

With this fact essentially established, the next obvious question is "What's next?"  We know there are numerous possibilities.  Some, including myself, worry that Muslim Brotherhood or another Islamic fundamentalist organization will try and establish a theocratic regime like in Iran.  

Others wonder if Mubarak's new, Vice President Omar Suleiman, will take the reign and essentially rule as Mubarak: Part II.  But given his well-known allegiance to Mubarak, this seems highly unlikely at this time:  

"Mubarak and Suleiman are the same person," said Emile Nakhleh, a former top Middle East analyst for the CIA. "They are not two different people in terms of ideology and reform." 

And for the sake of human rights, let's hope Suleiman is not a serious option.  As head of Egypt's intelligence agency, he helped oversee the torture of suspected Al Qaeda to help the Bush Administration justify the invasion of Iraq.  He also assisted with the the CIA's international "interrogation" policy known as rendition.

Another option that has been mentioned is a surprising leader of the opposition movement: Mohamed ElBaradei.  He is certainly a capable and distinguished enough of an individual, and may end up being the best option there is.  But the fact that he has spent most of his career outside of Egypt may not settle well with some of his countrymen who consider this a nationalist Egyptian uprising. 

Whatever happens, there is a lot at steak in who takes over in Egypt.  Not just for Egypt itself, but for the Middle East as a whole.  The one major upside to the Mubarak regime has been the continued peace between Egypt and Israel.  At this time, Israel is very nervous about what is going to happen, and rightly so:

If Hosni Mubarak’s regime is replaced by a new anti-Israel, anti-western government, the Jewish state’s only remaining strategic allies in the Middle East will be the Palestinian Authority and Jordan.

That’s enough to give any Israeli government nightmares.

Many progressives in America, including myself, have always felt the United States should do a better job of putting pressure on Israel to treat the Palestinians in a more humane manner.  At the same time, the United States should continue to look out for the interests and security of Israel so they are not an open target for hostile enemies in the region.  Finally, the United States needs to take a a proactive and positive relationship with the Egyptian opposition for the sake of peace and stability in the region.  Senator John Kerry (D-MA) has it spot on in a New York Times Op-Ed piece:

Given the events of the past week, some are criticizing America’s past tolerance of the Egyptian regime. It is true that our public rhetoric did not always match our private concerns. But there also was a pragmatic understanding that our relationship benefited American foreign policy and promoted peace in the region. And make no mistake, a productive relationship with Egypt remains crucial for both us and the Middle East. 

To that end, the United States must accompany our rhetoric with real assistance to the Egyptian people. For too long, financing Egypt’s military has dominated our alliance. The proof was seen over the weekend: tear gas canisters marked “Made in America” fired at protesters, United States-supplied F-16 jet fighters streaking over central Cairo. Congress and the Obama administration need to consider providing civilian assistance that would generate jobs and improve social conditions in Egypt, as well as guarantee that American military assistance is accomplishing its goals — just as we are trying to do with Pakistan through a five-year nonmilitary assistance package.

Allow me to recommend three other good sources of information on the situation in Egypt:

• In his newest column in Slate, Christopher Hitchens gives his take.  As only Hitch can do, he writes eloquently about the plight of the people's desire for change in Egypt.
• Sharif Abdel Kouddous continues his outstanding coverage of Egypt on yesterday's Democracy Now.  As I said before, follow him on Twitter if you are on there and care at all about this situation (especially if you are interested in hearing an Egyptian perspective).
• Finally, I would like to show the video I showed to my Social Studies class yesterday to inform them on the situation in Egypt.  While my students generally have little or no interest in international affairs, they were stunned  and intrigued at this footage.  After the video, I heard one of my students refer to Mubarak with not so nice language.  While I had to jump on him for use of profanity in my classroom, I enjoyed the passion with which he felt (that is partially why I became a teacher).  If you teach a Social Studies class, and have the technology in your room, I highly recommend playing this for your students, and having a classroom discussion afterwords:

UPDATE NOTE: As I was completing this post, Mubarak has announced he will not run for election. But we already knew this would happen. Let's see what happens next.