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I suspect you have not had a boy in public school lately. I have, and this article rings very true with me. My son (now almost 13 and entering 8th grade) was pegged by a poor first-grade teacher as probable ADHD. We had him tested and the psychologist told us it was a mild case at worst. He sometimes was disorganized and his mind wandered. We refused to medicate him or do anything to give him any indication he was different or inferior. One day I went into his class unannounced and found this teacher literally screaming at another boy, while the other children cowered. I realized she could not cope with normal boy behavior. The same thing occurred when my son was put into the gifted program in fourth grade. The teacher was a shrew who hated boys. She gave my son a hard time about everything. Conferences with her were painful because we stood up for him.

Two years ago we moved to another state and the schools are like night and day. My son has had many male teachers, and even his female teachers do not treat him like a problem. The school principals are men. He has thrived and is now a straight-A student for the first time.

I wouldn't think of discounting what you say! It's true that my only child is a daughter, but my best friend had the identical experience as you! And her son is now an internationally renowned musician with a PhD!

BUT, while the thing about the ADHD may well be about teachers who shouldn't teach, it is also VERY much about enhanced state funding. They get money for those kids from the federal govt. That's why the label them and they did it to my daughter too. The meds were discountinued pronto and she's now a successful medical claims collector.

Here's an interesting sidelight to this question --

I have two kids who are like night and day. One is a girl, very scholarly, very quiet -- your typical organized hardworking girl. My boy is just as bright, but he is ADHD (and he really has it -- believe me when you have a kid with a severe case, there is no mistaking it at all.) The public schools around here are useless for both of them, for different reasons - they wound up in different private schools with different focus.

After a brief brush with the public schools for my son (which did not work out well AT ALL - I agree with what is said here about the feminized public schools and how many female teachers just can't deal with boys -- not to mention the totally whipped metrosexual male teacher who couldn't deal with them either), we got him into a private school that specializes in dealing with kids with ADHD. They have got his number, and he's doing very well, making mostly As and some Bs. As he starts his sophomore year, he is completely off medication, he's a little loopy without it but he's learning to manage himself without that help.

Most of his teachers are men, and they deal well with these impulsive, critical, practical minded boys. (I would say there are significantly more boys than girls in this school.)

The interesting thing is that in my daughter's private high school, which is a good college prep school, she too had mostly male teachers. She loved the male teachers, thought they were "more serious" than most of the females (although her Calculus teacher was an exception - a very serious lady!)