Sometimes, a child will need medical intervention for learning or behavioural difficulties, and tutoring isn’t a replacement for medication or therapy. The root cause of the child’s problem needs to be identified, and only when the cause is addressed will the issues improve. According to Dr Linda Graham, Senior Researcher at the Faculty of Education and Social work at Sydney University, resources would be better spent giving teachers the skills and support to deal with a variety of children’s behaviour rather than singling out so-called disorders. A letter to the Education Minister by 14 researchers, including Dr Graham, criticised moves to instruct teachers to look out for ADHD, stating that this could cause teachers to miss signs indicating other difficulties at home or with learning. “The diagnostic criteria for ADHD over the past 15 years have been expanding, and it is now possible to diagnose one of my cats,” Dr Graham told The Australian.
Education has regressed with the introduction of psychological concepts into the curriculum. For example, phonics are ignored in some areas, and children have been forced to memorise nearly every word without understanding the logical sequence of letters or their sounds. Over the years, it has had different names: from “Look-Say” in the 1940s and 50s, “sight-word” method in the mid-to-late-1960s, to “psycholinguistics” “Whole Language” or “Whole Word” in the 1980s. Consequently, students simply don’t understand what they are being told to study.
Therefore, educational basics and tutoring could be key tools to address “challenging behaviour.” If a child is behind in a subject, tutoring on that subject should also be considered.
Furthermore, in many cases, the child is inattentive in school because they are incredibly talented and bored. Former US President Bush’s 14-year-old nephew, Pierce, is an example of this. In 2000 he appeared on the Larry King Live TV show in the United States with his father, Neil, who explained how Pierce was told he had ADD and needed a stimulant. The boy refused to take it. Instead, Pierce was given 3 1/2 days of assessment and was found to be a “gifted and talented kid.”
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