Nathan Valente, Fall 2007
Short stubby fingers wrap themselves tightly around a number-two pencil. The eraser taps the desktop in rhythm to the unheard music while small, untied sneakers kick back and forth underneath the cold metal chair. Focus locks onto the blackboard to see a jumble of white numbers and symbols crowding the smooth blackness. Carry the remainder; put in the decimal point. Three goes into twelve—BIRD! A yellow and black finch perches itself on a branch outside the window. It’s a beautiful color yellow; nobody else notices. Eyes move erratically: chalkboard, clock, teacher, clock, pigtails, clock, bird, clock. Isn’t it time to leave yet?
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is an issue that has plagued our schools since it was first discovered. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that 3.3 million children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with ADD (NIMH). This is no small number of students in our schools. These children find themselves unable to focus on lesson plans or class work, making them a serious risk to the bell curve. There is a real problem with these children, and it needs to be remedied with something other than Ritalin or Adderall. We all know Americans continue to prescribe solutions for our children. But this isn’t enough. We need a solid program to help the children in classrooms, not only in America, but across the world. We cannot allow for hyperactive grade-schoolers to distract those students who have a chance of doing great things through their schooling.
How could we possibly expect young, able-bodied students to be able to concentrate on their work if there is such a distraction in the classroom? A roomful of diligent workers, all writing quietly, while one attention-challenged child continues to drum on his desk and hum Christmas carols, breaking the work tension in the room. This is a curse that I do not wish upon these poor innocent children. We need to take drastic steps towards the elimination of this obviously serious issue. My plan will allow for all able students to do their schoolwork, free of distractions, while taking an enormous amount of work off of the teachers of classes containing children with ADD.
We must go about this plan carefully and discreetly. Because our main objective is to save the classes from all distractions, it is imperative that we not disrupt the classes that will be affected by such a program. The ADD children will be packed up and shipped out to the most advanced program for ADD students. I have designed an intensive five-year program at a series of sleep-away camps for attention-deprived children. It is here in these camps that they will learn how to go about their daily lives with a better focus on life. We will help them to hone their concentration skills to completely exterminate the issue. We will call these camps that will cleanse the education system “Concentration Camps.”
We can round up all of the ADD children together in a large group and strip them of their books and notebooks, pencils and pens. Then we will pack them onto a caravan of school busses, and drive them many miles from their homes. Everyone will know that we have taken them, obviously, so for the good of the system, we must keep people from speaking on the subject. This is meant to be discrete and as unintrusive for the healthy students as possible. It is obvious that attention-challenged children will need to be kept under close watch. So we will construct a large wall on the outer perimeter where we will post specially trained instructors to spot when a child loses focus. We use this technique to allow the children’s drifting attention to be stopped dead in its tracks. We will maintain order and avoid confusion by giving the children a personal identification number; this is so that everyone knows about their affliction and allows them to be identified if need be.
It is here in my Concentration Camps, that the students will learn the value of a good day’s work along with basic rudimentary home skills like baking and gardening. Of course, we will need to monitor their progress with a series of exams. It is crucial to the survival of the program that they move forward at a specific rate. If we fall behind we run the risk of not being able to eliminate the apparent problem and to completely wipe out the issue for good.
This proposal has been tried and used by numerous organizations throughout the years and has been generally successful. A radical, yet popular political leader from western Europe during the mid 1900s once said, “A single blow must destroy the enemy, without regard of losses; a gigantic all-destroying blow.” That is what we must do, hit the problem with all the resources we have; there is no other way. This very charismatic leader was a strong believer in a similar program that was supported by an entire Western power. A power which changed the course of human events. His integration of such a program sparked the attention of the entire world and he proved it to be effective in its purposes.
After the institution of my program, I can guarantee a staggering increase in the productivity of the remaining students. The education system will progress much faster with all of the instructors concentrating solely on those students who are actually capable of absorbing their lessons. Standardized testing scores will skyrocket and school systems will save money because there will no longer be a need for the teacher’s aids who work directly with the ADD students. If we follow this plan there is no way we will not rise again. Once you cut loose the dead weight you are much better able to move forward. America will rise again as an intellectual empire, an empire to rival Rome.