It’s been almost 10 years since my first high school band concert, although I remember it well. I was very nervous. I was a band kid through and through. I was hooked since my first day of band camp my freshman year. 

Band was something special. Not every kid participated, and not every kid felt about it the way I did, but the ones who understood, were some of my best friends. 

Band was not just an extra curricular activity that we did reluctantly because our parents asked us to, or something that appealed to the college board. Band was a way of life. I didn’t participate in a ton of extracurriculars outside of band, but having gotten older I can guess that this is not a unique feeling to band kids. Every student who was actively a part of something, not just coasting by, probably felt the experience that I did, and learned the lessons that I learned. 

Band taught us how to conduct and present ourselves as a group. We learned how to organize ourselves accordingly before walking on stage, sit down seamlessly at the same time, make sure each instrument was facing the same way and resting in the same position, pick up the instrument at the same time and make music together. Tune to the ear of those around you for a harmonious sound, and act as one. 

We learned how to take pride in our appearance, a well kept uniform, black shoes, simple elegant jewelry, no nails, nothing flashy, nothing that set one apart from the crown that might detract from the audience experience. It was about discipline, and respect for your peers in the band. We took pride and comfort in knowing that each person there was putting in the same kind of effort you were. We strived to motivate each other, hold practice sessions as a group, and encourage one another to do better. 

I spent hours upon hours with these people throughout my high school experience. They made me a better person, and they taught me so much. I don’t believe that I am alone in this experience. I am sure that most others who participated diligently in team activities feel this way about their team sport, and have experiences exclusive to the culture of their respective activity. 

In my opinion, and experience, these are the only things that make high school worth it. It’s these activities, not the education, that play such important roles in shaping the young minds of students into who they are going to become.

Tonight, however, after attending a high school band concert almost 10 years after my first high school band concert, things were different. 

At times I feel like I live in an echo chamber. My two younger brothers are homeschooled and I spend so much time with others who feel the way I do about the public education system I almost forget that there are those out there who still believe in it. Not only do they believe in it, they trust it enough to turn their kids over to it. The thought horrifies me. And it should horrify you too. 

Tonight I witnessed a group of students so incapable of conducting themselves properly I couldn’t believe it. All sense of decorum and dignity seemed to fly out the window. Kids clambered on stage noisily in between bands, playing their instruments haphazardly while awaiting their band director, who could not have been much older than me, to give them further instruction. I watched a child walk on to the stage, pull his phone out of his pocket to check it, and then sit down in his chair before playing. I watched girls giggle and chatter in between songs on stage, I heard children laugh and chat endlessly in the audience while their fellow peers performed. A student in a reindeer onesie lept out on stage in front of everyone to solo on the slapstick during Sleigh ride, while another student put on a horse mask to then mimic the “neigh” sound featured on the trumpet at the end of the song. 

This had nothing to do with the music. Rather the music was good or bad, the attitude and general demeanor of the group should stay the same. Integrity should be present everywhere you try your best, and I did not see these kids try their best. 

I began to ponder, if you asked any of these kids what they cared about most in the world I wonder what it would be. What do their dreams and fantasies look like, what motivates them to work hard, what encourages them to do better and keep growing?

I bet many of them wouldn’t have answers. 

While it may not seem obvious on the surface, this feels intrinsically connected to the health of our young people. It’s my belief that the over medicated and overly processed world we live in is creating kids who are not going to be able to function in society in a healthy way. Of course, this isn’t a new thing, and it’s not just the medications and the foods we consume, it’s the parenting and the way they’re raised. It seems clear to me that we have a grown generation of children who are already so damaged from the processed foods and the medications, and the environmental toxins, that they, in turn, are unable to raise a generation of healthy kids. Kids today are sicker than ever, with higher rates or depression, autism, obesity, and chronic illness many are beginning to wonder where we went wrong.

They’ve never known anything but the mediation for every problem, but corn flakes and fruit loops for breakfasts, dozens of vaccines since birth, and they’re turning around and producing children even more damaged than themselves. 

I’m not the only one who feels this way. Teachers have reported an increase in uncontrollable children who are simply unable to control themselves. Students who can’t handle the word “no”, Students who can’t self-regulate when they don’t get their way, students who will not be able to emerge into society as functioning adults at the rate that they are going. 

Many don’t seem to know the solution to this, however the solution is simple. Simple, but not easy. Fix the food. Get rid of the medications, and learn to use the word “No”. 

The behavior I saw exhibited over two hours at a high school band concert instilled a new confidence in me at my choice to homeschool my kids. While I don’t have children yet, I can say with certainty, one thing I will never do is subject them to the kind of horrors that seem to go on in public school in this day and age. 

We don’t want normal kids any more. That seems to be the argument for public schooling. “I want normal kids”. What does that even mean anymore? Normal has skewed so far beyond what we once thought that you are sure to find more traditional normalcy in a kid who grew up barefoot on a farm than a kid who made it through all 12 years of public school. I know I’m not alone in this and I am hopeful for a future generation that experiences more home schooling, and less public schooling. 

I believe that Bobby Kennedy single handedly won Trump the presidential election. While he has many great forces behind him, and the endorsement of Elon Musk and Joe Rogan certainly didn’t hurt, I don’t think that he would have won the election without the endorsement and avid support of Robert F Kennedy Jr. 

While the holistic health folks are celebrating the win of Bobby, and celebrating even further still at the nomination of Bobby as the secretary of the HHS, many are dreading this decision and the changes that are (hopefully) to come from this choice. 

Those who primarily follow mainstream media outlets may have fallen for the narrative that Kennedy wants to remove all the processed food from your grocery store shelves, and ensure that no child ever receives a vaccine again. Many believe his ideas to be radical and dangerous, and more still think he is not to be trusted. 

However, I think that the election of Kennedy into the department of HHS is one of the best things to happen to this country in a long time. The Make America Healthy Again campaign is not something to fear, but is rather, a deeply necessary movement for the future of our children. We are headed down a dangerous path. With obesity numbers higher than ever, and chronic illness running rampant through our country, we have to ask the question why. We also have to ask the question why us? Other countries don’t seem to be struggling with the obesity and chronic disease epidemic that we are. 

It’s my belief, and one might see this as a logical conclusion to make, that the reason our country struggles so much more with these issues than other is because of the laundry list of toxic pollutants and chemicals, in, on and around our food that are banned in other countries. Additionally, our lack of education, and the environment our kids grow up in, has resulted in a generation of kids who are practically sedentary. 

For what it’s worth, Kennedy does not want to ban vaccines, and fast food. He does however want to remove fluoride from the water, and if this scares you, your research is about 30 years behind. Fluoride can lower IQ’s and result in the calcification of the pineal gland over time, and it needs to go. For the record, I, like many holistic people don’t want to ban vaccines or fast food. What we want, what I think most of us want and what we hope Kennedy will do, is create a world where we are not judged, ridiculed or shamed for the way we choose to raise our kids. A world where people understand us when we say we’ve chosen not to vaccinate, or our kids don’t eat Yellow #5 or Red #40, and we’re not at risk for losing our kids and most importantly, a world where those who don’t have the time or desire to feed their kids the way we do, are not actively poisoning their children. 

We’re not into shaming. I’m not judging you for buying your kids corn flakes. I’m not judging you for picking up fast food for dinner, again, because you’re just too tired to cook. I want us all to live in a world where if you choose to do that for your family, the government is protecting you from the chemicals that you’re currently consuming without awareness, where informed consent is REAL, and you really and truly know what you’re getting yourself into when you get your child vaccinated or when you accept that hormonal birth control prescription. We are hoping that RFK moves us in the direction of a happier healthier society, because what we have right now isn’t working. 

The negative side effects of pornography have long been known by psychologist as well as most of the general public. One of the most prominent side effects that men experience is desensitization to the content that they consume. The longer they watch porn, often times the more intense the content has to become in order to achieve the same satisfaction, escalating until real human connection no longer satisfies you, and you’re only left with extremely graphic and intense content just to try and feel something. 

This has been talked about at length, but recently, it occured to me that we’re experiencing this everywhere in all facets of life. Humans are becoming desensitized to their emotions more and more everyday. 

Recently while driving around with my 15 year old sister, she asked me if she could put on her podcast, I said yes, actually excited by the idea of her listening to something besides y2k pop.                 

That excitement didn’t last long as we began listening to a woman recount in great graphic detail the history of a certain famous serial killer while she applied her makeup. I, to say the least, was horrified and disturbed. My sister, on the other hand, was enthralled. 

Now this is nothing new. Obviously this woman has built a following on people consuming this content, no matter how twisted you may think it is, and of course, we’ve been listening to murder mystery podcasts and watching “who done it” shows for decades. But the question is why? I think once upon a time, the idea of the this kind of content consumption would be horrifying to the average person. Only very disturbed people were interested in this kind of information. 

We’ve been discussing since the early 90s the effects of violent video games on a child’s psyche and rather or not violence in TV and video games can desensitize you to real life violence (evidence would suggest yes, it likely does) And now, it seems like we’re only seeing more violence portrayed in media that we were 30 years ago. 

Now this really isn’t about becoming desensitized to violence. It’s much broader than that. I would argue that as a society we’re become desensitized to everything. 

I think the biggest example of this is social media, and the way we consume content. Scrolling on social media releases dopamine by activating the brain’s reward pleasure system. Unfortunately, this is a rather unnatural way to release dopamine, and over time we become addicted to these quick fixes, giving us instant dopamine hits. Just like a regular drug addict, after time we need more and more to achieve the same effect, but this isn’t just “more” in terms of quantity. It’s more flashy, more instant gratification, louder and more dramatic content needed to grab our attention and release the same dopamine hit. 

“Doing things that are hard is one of the best ways to pursue a life worth living, because the pleasure we get afterwards is more enduring,”

–Constant craving: how digital media turned us all into dopamine addicts

The immediate access to instant pleasure is a problem worth talking about, however, I think there’s another deeper layer here contributing to our desensitization that makes this a two-fold issue. 

The number of people on antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and other psychiatric drugs has skyrocketed over the last several decades, and I largely believe that this is a huge contributor to our desensitization. While these drugs are often used for their ability to alleviate depression, these drugs can alleviate all emotions, leaving us a shell of our former self, maybe not sad anymore, but maybe not much of anything else. Unable to feel intense joy, sorrow, or anything in between. 

“This flattening of feelings, also called “reduced affect,” is a potential side effect of antidepressants, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Around half of people taking antidepressants report some degree of blunted emotions, according to research.[1] “

-All About Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): Types, Side Effects, and More

As a society we have two things working against us at once. Theses drugs, numbing our emotions, and this huge influx of instant dopamine at our fingertips. It’s a perfect combination for an overly addicted, numbed, zombie-like society. 

The questions is what can we do about it? It seems many of these things are unavoidable, and in a way they are. It’s hard to get by in the modern world without a smartphone. 

I think the answer is to start small. Fine offline hobbies, try leaving your phone at home when you’re going somewhere you won’t need it. I often like to leave mine at home when I’m going out with my parents or other close family members. Try a social media detox. I recently did this and found it to be enlightening. You can read more about my experience with that here. Try engaging with your peers in the real world without a screen in your hand, talk to a stranger at a coffee shop. Imagine what life would be like, what you would do if you didn’t have a phone, and then try that. 

I’m not perfect. I can’t tell you how many times I stopped what I was doing to check my phone in the middle of writing this article. As a matter of fact, I’m sitting outside a coffee shop right now writing, rather than engaging with the world around me (sometimes you have to work) but last weekend I went to a party with my family and left my phone at home. Last week I lost my phone and decided to let it be lost when I went to bed. I found it again the next morning, and nothing bad happened. 

Being aware of these issues is, in my opinion, one of the crucial first steps to making changes to the world we live in. 

• Emotional Desensitization to Violence Contributes to Adolescents’ Violent Behavior
• Constant craving: how digital media turned us all into dopamine addicts
• Emotional Desensitization to Violence Contributes to Adolescents’ Violent Behavior

A New York Times article came under fire for stating that an unvaccinated five-year-old is at less risk for Covid than a vaccinated 70-year-old.

The article was called “insensitive” and “misleading,” with critics saying it underestimated the risks that children are able to spread and catch the virus.

Now, with more data available than before, the author of the article has been proven right. Research shows an unvaccinated 5-year-old is at less risk for serious covid than a vaccinated 70-year-old.

For the elderly, as well as those with serious health conditions getting vaccinated does not reduce the risk of Covid death or hospitalization to near zero, despite what initial vaccine data may have suggested.

Children, however, are at extremely low risk for catching covid and being hospitalized by it.

“For children without a serious medical condition the danger of severe Covid is so low as to be difficult to quantify”

The New York Times

Despite data that shows how low-risk children are, California continues to push for vaccine mandates for school children. Vaccines have just been approved for emergency use in children aged 5-11.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

On Friday, October 29th the FDA approved the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for emergency authorization for children ages 5-11.

The long-term risks to children are not known in an emergency authorization trial.

Children receiving the vaccine will get two shots three weeks apart with a lower dose of the vaccine than those 12 and older.

“We’re never gonna learn about how safe the vaccine is until we start giving it.”

-FDA Voting member

According to Pfizer “long term safety of Covid-19 vaccine in participants, 5-12 years of age will be studied in 5 post-authorization safety studies”

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Research has shown that young children are at extremely low risk for severe Covid-19. Unvaccinated children may be at an even lower risk for severe covid than fully vaccinated 70-year-olds.

A study published in the medical journal JAMA has shown that children and adolescents ages 2-19 get most of their calories from ultra-processed foods.

Two-thirds, 67% of calories consumed by this age group in 2018 came from foods like frozen pizza, microwave meals, chips, and sweets. This is a 6% increase from 1999.

This widespread reliance on junk food is an increasing public health concern as the obesity rate has been rising steadily among U.S. youths for the past two decades.

If You Think Kids Are Eating Mostly Junk Food, A New Study Finds You’re Right

Researchers analyzed the diets of 33,795 people. The authors of the study point out one reason this is particularly concerning is due to the fact that adolescents are at a critical age for developing dietary habits that carry into adulthood.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut 

In this time period that the consumption of processed foods increased the consumption of unprocessed foods decreased to 23.5%.

Ready-to-eat meals increased in consumption from 2.2% to 11.2%, the greatest increase. Packaged sweets increased from 10.6% of calories to 12.9% of calorie consumption.

While the growth in consumption of highly processed foods was higher for black, non-Hispanic youth, researchers found education level or income level didn’t affect consumption of ultra-processed foods.

On a positive note, the consumption of sugary beverages dropped from 10.8% of overall calories to 5.3% of overall calories. Researchers suggest this could be due to efforts to educate about the effects of sugary drinks on your health.

Recommended: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

ADHD is a defined as a “persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development”. Anywhere from 5-7% of children are diagnosed with ADHD making it one of the most common childhood disorders.

Today it seems as if any child who has trouble focusing is almost immediately diagnosed with ADHD. This isn’t necessarily a good thing. New research in the JAMA Network open shows that increases in ADHD diagnoses may be largely due to children with “normal but frustrating” behavior. Children who are younger within their grade are more likely to be diagnoses with ADHD. Often children who have difficulty focusing or finishing tasks in a traditional classroom environment are labeled as ADHD.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut 

Overdiagnosis of ADHD takes away resources from kids who may benefit more from extra support.

In the US, for example, almost half of all children diagnosed with ADHD have mild symptoms, with only around 15% presenting with severe problems. Only about 1% of all children in an Italian study had severe ADHD-related behaviours. And, in general, children today are no more hyperactive or inattentive than 20 years ago.

More kids are being diagnosed with ADHD for borderline (yet challenging) behaviours. Our new research shows why that’s a worry

An increase in ADHD diagnosis is also resulting in an increase in medicated children. More children are taking prescriptions than ever before, prescriptions, that in the long run do more harm than good.