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by meekmind 1509 days ago
If the prescription of stimulants is strictly due to pollutants or "other problems of modern life" then why are boys over-represented compared to girls?

"6.4 MILLION CHILDREN BETWEEN THE AGES OF FOUR AND SEVENTEEN HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH ADHD. BY HIGH SCHOOL, NEARLY 20% OF ALL BOYS WILL HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH ADHD—A 37% INCREASE SINCE 2003" [0] (CAPS are from article)

"The number of children who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder—overwhelmingly boys—in the United States has climbed at an astonishing rate over a relatively short period of time." [0]

It is well-known that boys and girls have different tendencies when learning. Boys tend to be tactile/kinesthetic learners, compared to girls who do better with visual/auditory learning. For example, consider how you would teach a child to build a house. A boy would learn the process better by actually building a house, whereas a girl would do better reading about construction methods or seeing blueprints (on average).

I am inclined to to agree with GP and that it is schools. When faced with the aforementioned learning styles: parents, teachers, and administrators struggle to accommodate boys and instead opt to medicate them. It's easier to drug boys when they have difficulties for lack of tactile/kinesthetic learning options.

I will admit that pollutants and the flood of instantly-gratifying entertainment, movies, TV shows, music videos, and porn is not helpful. However, I don't think that is the most fundamental problem. I simply see an educational system that caters to girls at the expense of boys. Further, the boys are confronted by media that portrays them as "skirt-chasers", "metro-sexuals", and "macho-men" and not the "good-hearted, hard-working, and self-sacrificing just trying to take care of their friends and families" men that they really (often) become. [1]

[0] - https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a32858/drugging-of-the...

[1] - https://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/11/14/are-m...

1 comments

Maybe boys are exposed to more pollutants because they tend to do more outdoor activities?
That doesn't follow. The air is cleaner outside than inside. Usually there are more pollutants inside a household (cleaners/plastics/etc) than outside.
If we're just spitballing, then what about the notion that many plastic pollutants function as estrogen analogues? In that case, you'd see less interaction within young women since at worst any estrogen would merely cause precocious puberty. With young men, the effects could be an utterly undefined space.
Sure, the air is. Unless you're taking public transit in a city. And the various kinds of toxic dirt and grime on the streets aren't exactly a picnic either.