Department of Family Studies and Interior Design, 308.865.8234
The author of “Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses” will give a presentation on handling children who have been labeled “a problem” at 7 p.m. Friday, April 20, at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Clinical psychologist and author Dr. John Breeding’s presentation will be based largely on his latest book, titled “Challenging Children in Challenging Times: Defending the Development of Spirited Young People.” His presentation will take place in Room 142 of Copeland Hall on the campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.
As a practicing clinical psychologist, Dr. Breeding counsels parents and children, and leads workshops for parents and educators that focus on handling the challenges of working with children who have been identified as “problems.” In his work, he offers non-drug alternatives for children’s behavioral problems.
Dr. Breeding is currently the director of Texans for Safe Education, an organization that describes itself as a citizens group dedicated to challenging the ever-increasing role of psychiatry, especially psychiatric drugs, in the public school system. He is also active in areas of electroshock (www.endofshock.com), the drugging of elders in nursing homes, and forced psychiatric incarceration and treatment.
Dr. Jeanne Stolzer of the UNK Department of Family Studies and Interior Design, said that Dr. Breeding’s presentation is important because of the methods used today in the treatment of children with behavioral problems.
“There is a mass-drugging of children occurring in this country today,” Dr. Stolzer said. “There are between 11 and 12 million children who are on psychotropic medications, such as Ritalin, in America. In comparison, in 1970, there were only around 500 children who were diagnosed as hyperactive and the standard method of treatment was behavior modification.”
“This is what Dr. Breeding is going to address in his presentation,” she said. “And this is an important topic of discussion for many different people, including teachers and parents.”
In addition to authoring “The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses,” Dr. Breeding has written “The Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation” and “True Nature and Great Misunderstandings.” He also has numerous publications in scientific journals.
