314.xx Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Bouncing babies
Are just cute as they can be,
And adults love to give full attention
To the busy little bees.

But as these go and grow
Darting gleefully all about,
Those wanting their attention back
Soon find what's inside is all out.

So they go to and fro
Every-which-a-way,
Increasingly cut off
From what silence has to say.

And enticed in every direction
But never following one,
Their frantic visitations end
Before they've hardly even begun.

Running their course wide open
Unconstrained by space or time,
A child's unbridled power
Courts anxiety, high risk and crime.

If distractions and temper are clearly learned
Or the lack of attention nets systematic gains,
The deficit is a matter of values and discipline ---
Of course, you must rule out physiological pains.

For patience is still an acquired skill
And violent tempers must be bound,
And paying attention may be hard work
But the personal effort must be found.

For pains come and pleasures go
And all things come around again,
But when change becomes the answer
The enemy is from within.