Posted on 07/31/2005 10:11:30 AM PDT by tryon1ja
Washington - As a first-grader, Garrett Nash blurted out answers before his teacher called on him. He tickled a student sitting next to him and sometimes bolted out of lines. One cold day, he left school without his winter coat.
Michelle Nash thought her son's behaviour was typical for a child adjusting to a full day of classes, but school officials suspected he had a hyperactivity disorder. They recommended giving him Ritalin, a stimulant used to treat children with that problem. She refused. "I just said I'm not going to do it," said Nash, 40. "And their response was, "You know, it's against the law for you to deny a child medication." That's no longer the case. As of July 1, schools no longer have the upper hand in deciding whether children should be given Ritalin or other controlled substances. A new federal law tilts that power to parents, barring states and schools from keeping students out of class in cases when parents disagree with a recommendation to medicate a child. The law is provoking an emotional debate over the proper role of teachers and other school employees in trying to help children they believe are troubled. And it is taking effect amid growing concern over the exploding use of Ritalin, the brand name for methylphenidate. Production of that drug has nearly doubled in the United States since 2000, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Meical professionals are on both sides of the issue. Lance Clawson, a child psychiatrist from Cabin John, Md., said the new law could make teachers fearful of communicating legitimate concerns to parents. Because teachers see so many children everyday, they are best equipped to identify abnormal behavior, he said. "If you tie the hands of the schools, they lose the right to advocate for the child," Clawson said. But Karen Effrem, a former pediatrician who testified before Congress on the issue two years ago, said that children are often incorrectly diagnosed. Sometimes, she sid the problem is simply that they are watching too much television, eating a poor diet or are bored. She said the legislation does nothing to keep teachers from speaking out.
Exactly. Could not have said it better myself.
More like "law clarifies that school officials had greatly overstepped their bounds, and that PARENTS decide in consultation with their DOCTOR when a child needs medicating". But that's kind of a long headline...I'm sure that's what they meant though.
If you teach your kid some manners, they don't get sent to detention as often.
However that is too much work for a lot of "parents".
I hope you mean that the way I think you do. I agree also. Having had several childrein in the school system. I have met many teachers who needed their hands tied. Several young ones just out of college that they had a license to be tne new Dr. Spock.
Because teachers see so many children every day, they are the most inclinded to want to enforce uniform behavior for easier management. This used to be done by use of disciplinary action that often included embarassment in front of the child's peers, but as that approach has fallen out of favor among parents and child development experts, DRUGGING THE CHILD has become more acceptable.
Two words: Home school.
Thank God this fed law was passed. Twice I was hit with "negligent parenting" over my refusal to medicate my son. He was only 3 when the charges came that he "might" be ADD/ADH. Anyway, the schools then had these survey forms for parents to fill out. Every danged person alive would qualify as being ADD/ADH if they were to complete this survey. I didn't fill 'em out. I sent copies of 'em around to every legislator and concerned organization and talk show host I knew back then. It sure was an ugly time in my life, desperately trying to keep my son safe from the Educational Leviathan. How'd he turn out? GREAT!
In our school district there are some classrooms where 1/3 to maybe even close to 1/2 the children were on medication (could be overstating here but many kids). They used to line up for their daily dose right in school.
Just my point.
Our schoold has a similar program but it also includes being absent from school. Each student is required to spend a certain number of hours in the classroom. If a student does not have the required hours they have to attend Saturday school or after school detention to make up the hours in order to receive credit for the class.
Two words: Home school
Works for me!
How'd he turn out? GREAT!
More living proof that nobody knows your child better than you do.
My wife has been the head RN for a very busy FP doctor for 26 years.
Over the two plus decades, he has probably refused to write hundreds of rxes for Ritalin demanded by the CTA Union teachers of California to calm boys down.
His reply was if his parents had done this, his sister, two brothers and he would have been drugged on Ritalin.
If parents push it, he tells them to give their kids Cokes, Pepsi or Mountain Dews to drink to calm them down. If they decide push past that, he informs them to find another doctor for the entire family. After a few letters to pushy parents dropping the entire family as patients, the word got out in the community not to push the good Dr and demand Ritalin for their kids.
OH, my goodness, he sounds like ... gasp!... a little boy!! How dreadful is that?! /sarc
Ever notice that a huge percentage of the kids they want to drug are boys? Boys are boys, and they're a handful. Teachers used to know that. (Of course, they also used to be able to wash their little mouths out with soap on occasion, but we can't do that anymore now, can we?)
These experts take advantage of a very old, time-memorial vulnerability of parents who want the best for their children. There's a natural insecurity that goes along with being a parent; and that insecurity/vulnerability is also (can also be) a parent's best strength -- it's called an open mind.
In my own case, I knew my son's behavior was just like my own at that age. I'm not hyper-active. I just happened to like physical activity and "doing things" more than a lot of people do. That's not hyper. Also, he didn't "talk as much" as girls do; so they tagged him as "add/adh". Ha! I had a brother who didn't speak till he was 4. How'd he turn out? Brilliantly tacitern. Man of few words; but what he says is relevant and carries substance. Unlike many of the doltist educrat "dialoging" beancounters. (Yeah, he's a "doer" too.)
But you are right; a parent can know a child best. Some parents don't pay attention -- and that's when "expert" help can help a child. But this overuse of "add/adh" was just a money mill for the Teacher and Education Unions. It was about "MONEY".
Back when I was brawling with the district? Ratio of boys to girls on ritilin-substances was 12:1. In two years time, I saw those numbers reach parity. And this was only in the K-5 grades. 80% of all children in my neighborhood were being "drugged". How did they behave? Erratic. Prone to violent outbursts. Why? They were told they had a "condition" and everyone needed to accommodate the "condition". BAD FORM! A HORRID WAY TO RAISE A CHILD.
Also, at the time, a non-labeled child in CA schools cost about $6,400. But! With the ADD/ADH label, the schools could get close to $11,000 per student. Tack on a few more "labels"? Schools were in some cases getting $24K PER "labelled" student.
So, yes, parents have a tough row to hoe in these days where bureacracies can often have far more legal power over a child than the child's own parents can and do. Parents do need to stand up for their children and DO THEIR OWN RESEARCH. And stop being so fearful.
My response to that is, "It's against the law to practice medicine without a license."
If you wouldn't let a school official take out your kid's appendix, why would you let a school official prescribe drugs?
"I soon learned to play dumb and not raise my hand and she would call on me thinking she had me."
I did that EXACT same thing. However, I always had good conduct grades, until High School that is!
His reply was if his parents had done this, his sister, two brothers and he would have been drugged on Ritalin.
A friend of ours has a child who is a hyper kid. The school insisted the child be put on medication and she refused. They gave our friend a very hard time. She finally went to a doctor and obtained a written opinion that the child didn't need medication. This worked but, even when you win one, the child suffers because often the teacher and the school seek to somehow get even with the score. You need to be really careful even when you win. We, as parents to 7, have found that the best way to keep things under control at school is to be very active with your child in school. I don't mean the big picture like attending and active in PTA. We go to the parent/teacher conferences and make sure we talk to each teacher even when it is high school. If there is a problem at anytime we get in contact with the teacher or principal or even the office. This way the school knows that we care what is going on with our child and if they are dealing with our child they are also dealing with us. Sometimes you even have to get right into their face to make them realize that raising our kid is our job. They can help but only as we give them permission.
Too many teachers take Hillary's notion that raising a child takes a whole village. A child needs a family and not a commune. The village doesn't need to be involved in the child rearing business and can best support the parent and not directly the child.
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