22/08/2025
I don't have all the answers.
I have curiosity and concern.
Yesterday I visited glow worm caves. Silence was requested, yet a child in the group was noisy, restless, disruptive. Annoyance rippled through the adults — I even heard “poor parenting.”
But I wondered… what if this wasn’t “bad behaviour”? What if this child’s mind simply couldn’t be still — perhaps ADHD, or another neurodivergent rhythm?
When children who can’t sit still are constantly told to hush, the lesson they absorb isn’t quiet — it’s shame. And shame grows into disconnection, mistrust of self, even rebellion later in life.
The science tells us: ADHD isn’t disobedience, it’s difference. Suppression rarely works. Compassion, redirection, and understanding do.
And yet, let’s be real — it is hard on teachers whose classrooms are constantly disrupted. It’s stressful for other students. It’s draining for parents.
Frustration is real.
That’s why we need more than blame — we need systems that are better equipped to support everyone:
🌱 Teachers with tools and training.
🌱 Parents with resources and understanding.
🌱 Students with awareness and compassion.
🌱 Children with outlets, guidance, and space to be themselves.
So what if, instead of demonising, we held more curiosity and demanded better support?
What if our classrooms, families, and communities were designed with difference in mind?
Because real support doesn’t just help a child survive the moment. It helps them — and all of us — grow into a society where difference is not a disruption, but a richness.
I don't have all the answers.
I have curiosity and concern for how our society holds space for all that is.