The French Way?

A few weeks ago a friend posted this article to Facebook. The gist is that French doctors view ADHD differently than doctors in the US do, thus leading to fewer diagnoses. Additionally, parents in France are stricter than they are here, and giving kids more structure helps them "learn self-control" at an early age.

This might not make me popular with all of my readers, but I liked some of what I read in the article. I'm uncomfortable that the ADHD net covers so much ground and so many things that I view as normal behaviors. I finished reading the article and promptly went to tell Bryan about it.

Even as I spoke to him, a thought was nagging at the back of my mind. It wasn't until I was done relaying what I'd read that I realized what it was.

When we were in Paris last year we attended a devotional hosted by some members of the ex pat LDS ward there. They spoke to us about living outside of the United States, specifically in Paris. They talked about pay, workload, family life. One thing that was said really stuck with me.

The Bishop of that ward told us that the French love to hire Americans because we think differently than the French. They're good at following instructions and recalling information learned through rote memorization. We have a reputation with French employers for being creative and innovative, thinking in unconventional ways to solve problems.

So according to the article American parents are too lax (which I don't completely disagree with), but we also produce sought after leaders and thinkers. While I'm a big fan of following instructions (and wish my kids were bigger fans themselves), I'm not sure that I would be willing to sacrifice those creative qualities so that my children won't whine and talk out of turn. Sometimes that all-over-the-place-brain that is labeled ADHD is the one comes up with the best solutions to problems. Are we producing them? Or just labeling them more than the French?

Of course, this is coming from someone with a degree in theatre, so it's probably not a big shock that I value creativity over conformity, eh?