Q: In "the old days," classrooms were calm and orderly. In many schools, desks were bolted to the floors. Today, there are windchimes, kites, mobiles, and other objects hanging from the ceilings and sun catchers hanging in the windows. There are sometimes beach umbrellas and a wading pool with pillows for kids to sit in and read, and all manner of novelties in today's classrooms. Often, kids sit in groups of four at tables. Do you feel that this type of classroom environment can contribute to attention problems in school?
 
Dr. Dave's reply: I love this question, and I thank the reader who sent it. I went to school during the days of the bolted down desks and such, and I loved it. Kids had a feeling that this was their personal space for the year. However, there is an interesting paradox in the history of education. Classes in the old days were more regimented, but not as severely during the early school years, such as kindergarten, first, and second grade, as they are today. In the old days, children were given time to gradually adjust to school. In the early grades children spent much more time than today in activities such as finger painting, art, dance, music, with periodic breaks for organized, outdoor games and physical activities. Academic subjects were gradually introduced, and children were given several years to gradually adjust. However, disrespect to teachers was not at all allowed, and woe to the child who sassed a teacher and a note was sent home. That child would not sit for several days. There was little mention that children could not control thier behaviors because of mysterious diseases, such as ADHD. Children were held accountable for not doing their work and for misbehaving.
 
You mention the moveable desks, the mobiles, and so forth. These things were the product of a period of time when the philosophy of education changed to the open classroom and a very permissive environment. This was actually the result of a new philosophy in psychology that became popular in the sixties called Rogerian Therapy, which came from the writings of Carl Rogers.  It failed in psychology and it failed in education. Even though it was a disaster, the moveable desks, mobiles, and other things have remained. I would love to see the old bolted down desks return.
 
The paradox is further complicated by the modern emphasis on the SOLs, Standards of Learning tests. These tests alone are fairly good and useful for creating higher standards within education. BUT, the problem is that the test results are married to the survival of the teachers and administrators. If the children perform poorly then the heads of teachers and administrators go on the chopping block. This has created a very paranoid atmosphere, which has resulted in creating a hardcore academic curriculum beginning right from kindergarten. The tests do not begin until the third grade, but the training in academics begins big time right from kindergarten. Gone is free play. Gone is music. Gone is dance. Gone is art.  Gone is fun. In its place is regimentation and fear. The free moving desks and mobiles are mostly for show, and do not reflect the prison-like atmosphere that is now school.  By the third grade, too many children have learned to hate school work, reading ,and learning. They get turned off to education, and then we blame them by saying they have psychiatric diseases, such as ADD, ADHD, auditory processing disorder, and sensory intergration disorder, and other bogus diagnoses.
 
New York state has had a system of SOLs, called the Regents exams, that has been successful for nearly sixty years. The key is that the test results are only used to help place children and are not used to determine the survival of teachers and administrators. It has helped in developing solid academinc curricula without a paranoid atmosphere. 
 
School and learning are difficult, but it does not help when all the relaxation activities and fun times are taken away from our children.
 
Dr. Dave