NPR reports two studies (here and here) showing that younger kids in a classroom are more often (60% of the cases) diagnosed with ADHD when compared to their older classmates. The researchers looked at birth dates and school cut off dates to compare kids who can be up to a year apart in age, but placed in the same grade. Both studies conclude that teachers, usually the first to suggest the need for an ADHD evaluation, are evaluating kids to each other even when the younger ones are less mature due to their age, not to attention problems or hyperactivity.

This is similar to Malcolm Gladwell’s finding that, “a hugely disproportionate number of professional hockey and soccer players are born in January, February and March (his blog).” His findings are, in short, that older kids in the same grade show more promise only because of their physical maturity, not inborn talent; nonetheless, they are given more practice, praise and coaching because of their skills.

Since a misdiagnosis of ADHD can lead to a mental health diagnosis, special placement with in a school system and psychotropic medications, parents and teachers should note the child’s age, not the school grade. Those making the diagnosis should also attend to this.

NPR is reporting another study linking watching TV and playing video games to difficulty in paying attention in school. Apart from the usual critique that correlation is not sufficient to claim causation, this study does not add much to parenting as we practice it. Most parents agree that too much TV or video games is not good for kids.

What caught me is a quote in the article from Dimitri Christakis, who said, “I think that the concern is that the pacing of the program, whether its video games or TV is overstimulating and contributes to attention problems.”

He’s got it backwards. It isn’t the fast pace of the games, it is the slow pace of whatever is competing for attention. We have all been in meetings where the flow of information is like molasses on a cold day, for example, when the boss is addressing another employee, not you directly. For a few minutes there, you have to force yourself to not look at your phone. There is so much you could accomplish in those few miutes: you could check e-mail, update your Facebook status, or send a text to someone else in the same meeting making fun of the boss.

And if you remember your school days, teachers can be really boring. It is all too easy to understand why kids are not paying attention in school. Our task might be to teach our kids how to focus attention on what is appropriate at that time, much like we have learned to focus on the boss and not our smart phones.

     More Screen Time Means More Attention Problems In Kids