If It’s Not Broke – Why Are You Trying To Fix It?

Did you ever notice how quick we are, as a society, to look for what’s wrong in the daily situations we find ourselves? We have been raised to first look for or plan for the “worst” and that way, if we get anything better we can be “thankful.” Do you really need a reason to be thankful? If people, especially children, don’t act in a certain way – they must have some type of disorder. What is unacceptable about being an individual? When did expressing creativity and imaginative thought become wrong? Why is being energetic instead of being a couch potato a bad thing?

Can you imagine the world without the telephone? What about electricity, the light bulb or Disneyland? How about the telescope or E=mc2 and the automobile? Then there’s the airplane, chewing gum and “Star Wars.” Do you know what all these inventions have in common? The inventors all exhibited the “symptoms” of ADD or ADHD . Some of our most recognizable musicians, actors, artists and sports legends share these traits – such as: Beethoven, Mozart, Stevie Wonder, George Burns, Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Van Gogh, Picasso and Hemmingway, Babe Ruth, Magic Johnson and Greg Louganis. The list could go on and on. There are politicians, philosophers and scientists.

What if these creative “lights” had been extinguished or locked in a box because they were different? What if all of these people had been given a little pill so they would act and be like everyone else? Where would we be today and where will we be tomorrow if we continue to “fix” what isn’t broken in the first place?

In 1999, the Colorado State Board of Education passed a precedent-setting Resolution that asked school personnel to use academic rather than drug solutions to resolve problems with behavior , attention and learning . Since then, state legislatures, school boards and national organizations have responded to the need to protect children from arbitrary and forced psychiatric labeling and drugging, and to monitor the prescription rate of stimulants and other psychiatric drugs for children. On 12/18/03, Arizona went another route and passed HB2024 which states: “a child whose parent, guardian or custodian refuses to put the child on medication or questions the use of a psychiatric medication shall not be considered abused, neglected or dependent for that reason alone.”

If you want to find out more about passed and pending legislation on this subject – visit www.fightforkids.org . Let your voice to be heard. Remember – our children are the future of our state and this country.