I find this post scary. I had an “AHA!” moment a few minutes ago and I think I am right. I know I am right. I don’t like what I see, either.

ADHD diagnoses have been skyrocketing in the last few decades. At first, ADHD diagnoses netted few services and little extra help. Over time, we have been adding to our toolbox. We may give you fidget toys now. We may let you listen to music or walk around the classroom. We may suggest your parents see a physician, hoping you will be medicated.

We try to do our best by our “Derricks.” It’s almost always Derrick, and not Maria. Boys own this educationally-challenging category.

ADHD — so common that the label almost seems benign. But what if we are not seeing ADHD? What if we are seeing anxiety disorders instead? The symptoms can be remarkably similar, at least in terms of attention. Derrick may be unable to concentrate not because he has concentration issues — but because he’s scared of Chapter Four. If he did not understand Chapters 1 – 3 and barely passed those chapter tests, why should he hold out hope that Chapter 4 will be different?

I am sure some of our ADHD students genuinely suffer from ADHD. But my classroom experience of being forced to continually throw students in over their heads suggests another possibility: What if we are cultivating Generalized Anxiety Disorders in students who cannot perform up to the Common Core levels we are demanding — but who are given no option or way out of those Common Core demands? When almost every test and quiz I am REQUIRED to administer results in failing grades, I know I am making my classes anxious. I am fighting against that anxiety and propping up self-esteem every step of the way.

What happens when I lose that fight?

If we are cultivating Generalized Anxiety Disorders in children, what will become of these children as adults? We like ADHD diagnoses, I suspect, because this disorder is commonly considered to be biological, inborn and not our fault. But Generalized Anxiety Disorder, while affected by genetic factors, has a strong environmental component. Like post-traumatic stress disorder, events in daily life create the pathways to trigger the psychological response that ends with an everyday life lived in fear.

Sitting here in a version of The Twilight Zone, I offer up today’s frightening food for thought.

Eduhonesty: Credit to Dr. Fred Johnson and his book Proactive Discipline for Reactive Students: A guide for practicing effective classroom behavior management. He suggested this idea and I ran it through my past experiences. My heart sank. I can even sort out students — the ones I know are ADHD, and the ones who I suspect have been running scared for so long that scared has now become their way of life.

To ask a question I have posed before: What does it feel like to be the student with the fewest stars or the lowest score?