In the 1920's and 1930's pediatrician Arnold Gesell and his colleagues Frances Ilg and Louise B. Ames, photographed, observed and interviewed hundreds of children from one to sixteen years of age. They published several books e.g., (Gesell 1940; Gesell and Ilg 1946) that gave profiles for each year level. These profiles have stood the test of time and are still quite applicable to today's children. During our trip to Hawaii I was reminded of Gesell's description of six-year-olds as being in constant motion, running, talking, climbing and eating in non-stop fashion. Our granddaughter just turned six and she behaves as if she were one of Gesell's subjects. She directed us to her school, and spent most of the time there on the climbing apparatus and even made use of the ones for the older children—it was school vacation and there were no other children about. In the car if there was a lull in the conversation she would ask why no one was talking. At the beach she challenged me to a race which I took --and regretted later as the pains came on.

Heather's constant activity also reminded me of an experience I had earlier in my career when I worked as a school psychologist for the city of Boston. I was fresh out of grad school and still quite green when it came to children—I had been trained to work with adults. In one school I visited a first grade classroom. One boy caught my eye. He was running about the room, talking to his friends, watering the flowers, and a general whirlwind of activity. I suggested to the teacher that he was showing signs of hyper-activity and might be suffering from “minimal brain injury” the fad diagnosis of that era. The teacher only laughed and said, “Oh no, he's just all boy.” And then she introduced me to Gesell, who along with Piaget became my mentor.

I tell this story because no one seems to read Gesell anymore. Today when I visit a first grade classroom and see a boy acting in the manner of the boy I had seen years earlier, the teacher is likely to believe that he has ADHD (Attentional Deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder) and needs to be put on the drug Ritalin. Child development is a very small part of contemporary teacher training and Gesell and Piaget are now thought to be passé. Today it is believed that teachers need to learn about culture and diversity, not about development.

Culture and diversity are important, but so too is development. We are biological as well as social beings. The neglect of biological growth has led to the serious narrowing of the range of normality for children and youth. One result of this narrowing is the widespread misdiagnosis, and uncalled for drug treatment, of children and youth. Where are Gesell and Piaget when we need them?

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Gesell, A. and F. Ilg (1946). The Child from five to ten. New York, Harper.

Gesell, A. e. a. (1940). The First Five Years of Life. New York, Harper.