I have taught for almost 8 years at the elementary level. I cannot tell you how many kids have come through my class that were on adhd medicine. Of those, I can count exactly 2 that, in my non medical opinion, benefited from the medication in a way thay actually helped them to focus and perform better in school. I also cannot tell you how many times parents have tried to get me to “diagnose” their children so that they could take that recomendation to some quack doctor somewhere in order to get their kid put on meds. I refused to do it every single time. I tell them that I am not a doctor and only a medical professional can make that determination. Apparently, they do receive some kind of gov’t money if their kids are labeled adhd and they also receive free breakfast and lunch at school. Over 80% of the kids at my school eat free. It’s all about the money and not having to actually parents their children.
A retired schoolteacher told me the same thing - that parents would receive extra money and special perks if their children were diagnosed with ADHD. Like you, she refused to go along with it. The parent would ask her to sign a paper to be used for diagnosis, and she would say, “No, I don’t believe in that, and I’m not signing.”
However, in many other schools, the opposite happens: the teachers try to convince the parents to medicate their kids. I’ve met many parents over the years who either went along with it or fought it. And I’ve spoken with quite a few teachers and former teachers who admitted that they would push to have their students medicated. One teacher taught first grade, and she told me that she herself “has ADHD” and takes the same medicine, as does one of her own children.
Years ago when I was a high school teacher, I had a kid who was bright but did poorly. After Christmas he was focused, always had his eyes on what we were doing, and his grades went up. At a parent-teacher conference I ask mom what happened.
I had another kid who was lamenting his poor SAT scores. He had taken them twice and performed much lower than expected. The third time they went up an amazing 120 points (back when 1600 was perfect) that got him accepted at the schools he wanted . No, he didn’t have someone else take the test for him.
Guess what happened with both kids. Ritalin. For some kids it is a life saver. Are too many on it? Yes.
I had another bright kid who never was involved, didn’t do work or finish it. His parents told me he had medication but never took it. He was sure he could do it on his own but he was very unhappy he couldn’t do it. He never did take them.
When our Son was young he was on Ritalin for a time, we only medicated him at school so he could focus, As he matured he learned to control his impulsiveness and focus his attention. As a adult he has done exceptionally well in school earning his Masters in English. Not every antsy child should be medicated, but there are true cases of ADHD that require SOME medication for SOME time until the child can learn to control their impulsiveness and focus their attention. The problem is too many quacks and drug companies have a vested interest in ADHD.