So I was reading this article yesterday that says one in five American kids has some kind of “mental disorder”. My bullshitometer usually starts beeping really loudly at these “studies” because other countries don’t have the same issues unless the country itself is experiencing severe economic issues leading to lots of poverty or war and terrorism are the norm. More of our kids are on various meds(which do have their place, but as a parent who spent more than her share of time fighting to keep her son OFF those meds, I can assure you that way too many times those drugs are pushed in lieu of creative teaching) than other nations, and yet these issues persist.

As I’m thinking about all this, I have to wonder if the way we design and operate our schools is part of the problem. There’s a caste system of sorts in middle and high school and IMO schools are too large and warehouse-y to invoke a sense of community and a sort of “team spirit”(and I am not talking about school sports, that is also part of the problem). If you aren’t all Abercrombie and Fitch enough, you aren’t going to be welcomed there. Adults let this happen, most likely because they feel like this crap is some sort of character building rite of passage. Um, no.

My son has been out of school for almost a year now, and I am only now finding out the extent of the abuse and bullying he endured since 7th grade. I am amazed at his courage, some of what was done to him is or borders on criminal. And yet he walked into that lion’s den every day and did his best, even when no one there believed in him.

What would be a better model for schools? We have this infrastructure of huge buildings to contend with, so how do we utilize those and make things less awful for our young people? Would that help this rise in unhappy, hurting and angry kids?