ADD, ABSENT DAD DISORDER

Coach Dave Daubenmire

March 1, 2006 NewsWithViews.com

American public education is always looking for an excuse.
The NEA says schools are failing because of money. Some pundits say they
are failing because of student/teacher ratios. Others say it is the influx of
immigrants, or (ahem) discrimination.
One of the latest scapegoats is the rise of ADD. For those who may not be
aware, Attention Deficit Disorder is the latest learning disability to swamp
Americas school children, having been discovered in the latter part of the
20th century. Some experts estimate that as many as 20% of fifth grade
white boys are receiving some type of medication (drug) for the disorder.
While the jury is out on the impact that it is having on American young boys
ability to learn, I believe that this disability, real or imagined, is more
environmental than biological.
We could save a lot of time and money if we would merely acknowledge the
real cause of what was once called hyper-activity.

ADD can best be defined as Absent Dad Disorder.
Our public schools are a mess. We don't want to admit it, because of the
consequences of such an admission. For a generation we have been told that
the education system would show improvement if only we would pour in more
money. President Bush's answer has been the federal over-reach of No
Dollar Left Behind. It sort of reminds me of what a friend told me about his
fishing boat. It is great when it works, but most times it is just a hole in the
water into which he pours his money. Sound familiar?
Can the schools be fixed? I don't even want to dive into that debate, but I
can tell you that the present system, with Humanism as its god, moral
relativism as its foundation, and tolerance as its goal, has doomed America
unless some drastic changes are made. If you don't mind my bias, after 28
years of working within the system, I think there is one glaring weakness
that needs to be pointed out.
America is in dire need of men.
I walked away from education 5 years ago after a 2-year battle with the
ACLU, but I still substitute teach now and then. It is a great way to stay
informed on what the enemy is doing. Because I am no longer dependant on
the system for a livelihood, my perspective has changed. I visit different
schools, different classes, and different kids. Without exception, I have yet
to see a school that wouldn't benefit from a fresh influx of testosterone.

Women, for the most part, operate on emotions. They believe in fairness,
being nice, and genuinely ache when they see a young childs feelings hurt. It
is the way they are made.
Men hurt too, but are more analytical. They realize that a little bit of pain is
a good thing, that life isnt always fair, and that sometimes a kid deserves to
be smacked in the mouth. Women worry their sons may be bullied. Men worry
their sons might become wimps.
You wait until your Father gets home. Why was it that my mom knew I
would react differently to my father, but todays PC sociologists dont? The
problem is, some fathers never come home.
I can only imagine how living without a daddy would have made me behave
when I was six. I assure you, Ritalin would have been named after me!
Americas kids need Dad, not doped.
Recently I spent a day as a sub in K-2 physical education class. I didnt get
much done because I spent most of the time peeling kids off of my legs.
Man-starved little urchins swamped over me, hugging my legs, pulling on my
arms, aching for the missing man-in-their-life. Like a nicotine addict on a
smoke break, they sucked the maleness right out of me.
Yipee! squealed one little 6-year old girl as she entered the gym, a boy
teacher.
We are a nation of broken families. Family trees now resemble a shrub. Over
half of our children no longer live with Dad. Some studies show that nearly 7
out of 10 black children are born into a home without a father.
Boys are confused. A national epidemic of single family homes has deprived
Americas children of a solid, consistent, male role model. Some turn to
gangs, some to drugs, some turn to homosexuality.
Girls are abused. Promiscuity continues to skyrocket among the Britney
Spears generation as the young prosti-tots display their wares. Navels in
school are now more common than navel oranges in Florida. The daily
headlines reveal the latest sex-capades at the hands of public school
teachers, the fruit of young girls striving to find that male connection.
Women dominate the lives of our young kids. Even in homes where there is a
dad, he is usually so consumed with earning a living, that he neglects the
home fires. Raising kids is womens work. Real men earn money.
So how do we respond to Americas dearth of dads?
We send them to institutions run by women.
Think Im wrong? Look around. How many female superintendents do you see?
How many principals are women? Even the men have become sissified. Most
male teachers, feeling insecure because of their own inadequacies, relish the
power they have over children, and the safety from the dog-eat-dog
business world where they would be chewed up and spit out by testosterone-
laced executives demanding results for the money they were being paid.
Most have traded their manhood for a promotion, afraid to be scorned by
the touchy-feely, make-every-one-feel-important, self-esteem-promoting,
policy-making, gurus.
In a nation where 50% of our children dont live with Dad, the discipline in
the home falls to mom. It takes a strong woman to handle a rebellious boy.
So how do we respond? We hire female principals in our schools. When a kid
gets in trouble and is sent to the office, what does he find at the end of the
hall? Another woman.
Take it from a man. A fire breathing man scares a young boy more than
another visit with a get-in-touch-with-your-anger female. Can anyone imagine
Donald Trump as a high school principal? Youre Fired, punk!
Think Im sexist? Maybe, but it is still the truth.
Education was one of the first places that women were able to gain equal
status with men, a place where they had real input into the decision making
process. Now they run it. According to the NEA www.nea.org only 9% of
Americas elementary school teachers are male. Even fewer are men.
Yes, America's schools need men. Not males. Men.
Our young children need to face men who are gruff, men who are tough, men
who will teach a boy how to be a man. Men who will say "suck it up, get over
it, quit being such a baby." Men who will explain that life isn't always fair,
that not everyone will tolerate childish behavior, and that sometimes you
have to fight for your turf.. Yes, we need real men who will teach our kids to
get in touch with reality rather than with their feelings.
"Hey Junior, quit whining and get to work. Stop acting like a girl." (You do
remember when men and women were different, dont you?)
There are rough days ahead for America and todays metro-sexual man wont
cut the mustard. Unsuccessful at getting the average woman to behave like a
man, the feminist agenda instead focused on getting the average man to
think like women. Tolerance, diversity, and fairness have become women-
speak for lack of spine.
Call me old-fashioned, a Neanderthal, or whatever demeaning adjective you
want to use to distract from the message. No amount of name-calling will
change the facts. Manhood is in serious trouble in America.
Brokeback Mountain, blatant homosexual propaganda, has been all over the
news. Disguised as a movie, it is nothing more than a commercial to try and
normalize deviancy. If the makers of this movie were really honest, the
cowboys in the story would have been that sissy little man on Will and
Grace and Elton John. Instead, they try to sell us John Wayne and Hoss
Cartwright in a pup tent.
I often think back to a segment on the The Tonight Show when Johnny
Carson was the host. He used to love to have Burt Reynolds on. I think he
enjoyed the roughness that macho-Burt exuded, a real mans man, if you
know what I mean. In one particular segment I could sense Johnny probing
to find out what made Burt so, well, manly.
So tell me Burt," Johnny queried, How does a man know when he is a man?
Expecting Burt to give some deep insight into his woman-conquering
prowess, Johnny simply stared at the profundity of Burt Reynolds curt
reply.
Johnny, his dark, deeply-set eyes sparkling, You aint a man until your
daddy says youre a man.
Where are todays men? Probably sitting dutifully in a diversity class at his
local place of employment, while his local woman-dominated public school
teaches his son how to be more tolerant.
Hey Dad. Can I get my ear pierced? Mr. Stevens, my Health teacher, has
two of them.
Go ask your Mom.
We need a return to the Burt Reynolds America. Pass the testosterone!
Don't miss Coach Dave's recently released book "A Season Ordered By the
Lord." For more information visit www.ptsalt.com/season.