Excellent piece, Dragon!
Having gone through the trials with my son, I appreciated reading your essay. The teachers at my son's old school were pushing me to medicate him, saying that they were pretty certain he had ADD. I took him to several doctors and none of them felt he fit the criteria. One of the doctors was a regional specialist on the subject. So, I reported back to school (and I was really pleased because I didn't want to medicate my kid) their finding and they told me I should see a third doctor. They gave me the name of the doctor that most of the kids in his school and particularly his class went to. My suspicions were high. I asked how many kids in his class saw that doctor. They weren't able to give me details (privacy issues) but they did indicate that more than 60% of the boys in his grade were on Ritalin. OY! I have trouble with this - I think it's that the teachers didn't want to deal with 'boy-behavior', you know? The percentage was far too high.

Tim doesn't do well in school. He's smart, he knows how to do the work. The problem is, he just doesn't care about school and therefore hates it. I just have to keep after him until something clicks inside and tells him he has to push himself.

(end of ramble but thanks for the opportunity to do so LOL)