(no subject)
Who knew perusing high school yearbooks could be so interesting? It's odd how five years later, I know people have changed their look (a little more "weather-beaten" perhaps, lost/gained weight, etc.) and yet for those I haven't seen lately, that picture from the yearbook is still what I have in my mind. Peronsalities have changed, experiences have molded people, yet tonight Kat and I went through pointing and going "Oh, I remember her...she was such a bitch!" I guess it's a little more of growing up. Five years down the road and a little reconnection with home means it's time to revisit old haunts and ideas. A time when things like "public health" didn't even exist in my head.
The funny thing is tonight, we came across Dan Plastino, who I barely remember and didn't really talk to in high school. But I do remember one thing, from sixth grade, where he introduced me to "The Hot Zone" and my subsequent fascination with the virus called Ebola. I remember doing a middle school health project on Ebola too, and calling the CDC and asking for information about Ebola. They sent me a package with well over 150 pages of photocopied reports and texts, 145+ of which I never read since I had like, four hours to finish my report (I was a procrastinator then too). Years later, it's coming back to me. Maybe that was when public health got into my head and has simply been incubating for 11 years or so.
Another interesting thing tonight was just reflecting on parenting styles. Kat's been teaching various rich spoiled kids piano for the past year and has probably seen a decent gamut of parenting styles. Between that and listening to mom's Kumon parent stories, the base premise seems that current parents of young children tend to be on the permissive, coddling side, where any "bad behavior" is labeled as a disorder. Kat told me that one of her kids had "selective mutism." Selective mutism is apparently when a child goes mute when around other people or unfamiliar people. I don't know, but when I was a kid, that was called being SHY. It's listed in the DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR, and I'm sure that as an adult, this can actually be an impeding disorder, but to stick that on a four year old kid? It almost feels like saying your kid has a disorder automatically qualifies him/her to be exempt from certain social expectations and behavior norms. There are definitely some kids whose disorders are severe enough to really interfere with life (autism, severe ADD, etc), but still. Maybe it's just the echo-boomer generation sentiment that's coming out now. We talked about this a bit in Moorea too, and the same general consensus was reached. ::shrug:: Maybe I'm just getting old (at the fantastic age of 22).
The funny thing is tonight, we came across Dan Plastino, who I barely remember and didn't really talk to in high school. But I do remember one thing, from sixth grade, where he introduced me to "The Hot Zone" and my subsequent fascination with the virus called Ebola. I remember doing a middle school health project on Ebola too, and calling the CDC and asking for information about Ebola. They sent me a package with well over 150 pages of photocopied reports and texts, 145+ of which I never read since I had like, four hours to finish my report (I was a procrastinator then too). Years later, it's coming back to me. Maybe that was when public health got into my head and has simply been incubating for 11 years or so.
Another interesting thing tonight was just reflecting on parenting styles. Kat's been teaching various rich spoiled kids piano for the past year and has probably seen a decent gamut of parenting styles. Between that and listening to mom's Kumon parent stories, the base premise seems that current parents of young children tend to be on the permissive, coddling side, where any "bad behavior" is labeled as a disorder. Kat told me that one of her kids had "selective mutism." Selective mutism is apparently when a child goes mute when around other people or unfamiliar people. I don't know, but when I was a kid, that was called being SHY. It's listed in the DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR, and I'm sure that as an adult, this can actually be an impeding disorder, but to stick that on a four year old kid? It almost feels like saying your kid has a disorder automatically qualifies him/her to be exempt from certain social expectations and behavior norms. There are definitely some kids whose disorders are severe enough to really interfere with life (autism, severe ADD, etc), but still. Maybe it's just the echo-boomer generation sentiment that's coming out now. We talked about this a bit in Moorea too, and the same general consensus was reached. ::shrug:: Maybe I'm just getting old (at the fantastic age of 22).