Ritalin Nation: Are We Killing Our Children?

The Rutherford Institute ^ | 6/14/04 | John W. Whitehead

[festus]

Worse than that, a school superintendent I knew, reported that it was on the order of 80% males that were being drugged.

SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION !!!!

[Nick Danger]

The "big bad drug companies" model does not explain the sexual disparity in the prescribing of these drugs. Were this phenomenon profit-motivated, we would expect to see equal numbers of boys and girls being urged to take such medication.

That's not what we see. What we see is an education system selectively drugging male children, quite often the brightest ones. Drug companies will obviously rush to make a buck given an opportunity to do so, but it is doubtful that they are where the impetus for this is coming from.

There are many other measures taken by our education system to make schools hostile or unproductive for male children. The drugging is just one aspect of it. It may well be the worst. But when we have gotten rid of the drugs, we will not have solved the problem that was causing the drugging.

There is some very serious social engineering going on in the schools. People need to get a lot smarter about it. Going off half-cocked about doctors and drug companies is pointing people in the wrong direction. The problem is the people who are teaching the teachers... who they are, and what their agenda is. If you have a son in school, pay very close attention to what they are doing to his head. They do not mean him well.

[beaversmom]

They (the public school my son attended) tried to wear us down when my son was in kindergarten and then also when he moved on to first grade. Finally I had to take him out of the first grade class after a couple of months and put him in a Christian school. The badgering by the school was getting unbearable and making me very depressed. We decided it would be best if he re-did kindergarten. Thank goodness we did that because he was one of seven in his class. He didn't do perfectly but he did a lot better the second go around. In his kindergarten public school class there were over 25 kids. His first grade class had almost 30. Unfortunately we can't afford to send him to a full day of private school and this particular school only goes to kindergarten any way. I'm going to try and homeschool come fall.

[Indie]

The drug companies are also making a fortune off of new Rx drugs, many of which are much more dangerous than good old fashioned codeine [paragoric] for things like coughing and diarrhea, even in children. Even simple aspirin has been villified for a rare syndrome which occurs far less frequently than the number of overdose deaths from Tylenol.
[I guess they couldn't make enough money off of aspirin]

Nothing happens by chance. Follow the money. That is what the WOD is about as well.

http://www.leap.cc

[Severa]

Geez I must have gotten lucky then. I've NEVER had that problem with my son's school or the doctors *knock on wood* He's in a special school program for autistic children here in VA Beach called SECEP and they've done wonders for him.

[Taliesan]

Children who aren't taught to focus on a task between the ages of 1 and 3 won't be able to focus at age 7.

[91B]

That's the truth of the matter. Most of these kids have an age-old problem called B-O-Y. Mostly female teachers in elementary schools can't tolerate their boisterous (boy-sterous) behavior and convince their parents or school psychologists (who then talk to parents) that the kids need medication. It would be a scandal if it happened to girls, but the feminist establishment cares more about pretending that girls get short shrift in schools than they do about boys being chemically maimed. Curriculum reform took PE and playtime out of the schoolday (to a large extent), at home these kids sit in front of a TV or computer screen, and they eat tons of sugar. Why is anyone surprised that they are hyper?

[booann777]

Hi.. I've posted on these threads before so let me summarize:

Ritilin is NOT the only medicine used for ADD/ADHD... anti-seizure (not amphetamines) are commonly used, and Wellbutrin is prescribed also, together or not.

ADD/ADHD is oftentimes over diagnosed, as are many aliments. It takes the keen eye of a "shrink" NOT A TEACHER, evaluate the situation.

Nay sayers of ADHD/ADD are uninformed. Child rearing has LITTLE to do with this disrupting (at best) disorder. Parents with kids that are afflicted cannot just raise their kids in a "normal" way. How about "Torrets" (sp) syndrome, also an involuntary disorder. Would you blame the parents and wonder why they just can't make the child quit saying bad words and having other symptoms? "What on earth is wrong with these parents? Lazy and not willing give enough attention?"

ADHD/ADD students cannot be taught in a "normal" way. They do need attention at home and special learning techniques at school (more active, less rote.)

These kids are hard to handle, immature, have little impulse control, are often compulsive, depressed, etc. Many have legal problems due to their lack of impulse control. Part of the depression comes from stigma attached by teacher and parents that they are lazy. In fact, ADHD/ADD people (adults too) have more than average intelligence. Their brain "sparks" differently than "normal" kids, raised only by "good parents"...

Of course I refer to "real' cases of the disorder, not school/teacher mandated. If the child is a real disruptor, there are many private schools, or even home schooling as an option.

my two cents... ba7 (ok... ten cents!!)

[pageonetoo]

Even simple aspirin has been villified for a rare syndrome which occurs far less frequently than the number of overdose deaths from Tylenol.

" People who take too much of the popular painkiller acetaminophen can suffer liver damage, particularly if they are alcoholics, according to a new study reported today. `" -www.asam.org/pressrel/tylenol.htm

My doctor placed my on asperin therapy (baby asperin a day) for blood pressure. Good science, and the result of careful research. I wish the same could be said for Ritalin, etal...

[martin gibson]

...but the feminist establishment cares more about pretending that girls get short shrift in schools than they do about boys being chemically maimed...

DING DING DING...We have a winner!!!

[FranApple]

 

When these Ritalin children become young teens they are given adderall.

Some of those teens know that they don't need the medication they sell it to their friends.

These doctors know that they are medicating children with drugs not tested on that age group, I know because they did that to my step-sons. You would be shocked at the amount of children and teens with frequent in-house Psychiatric Hospital stays.

When my daughters now in their early thirties were young we never heard of such things. That was in the 70s and 80s.

In the mid 90s my step-sons had some very real problems that were caused by their mother constantly involving them in custody issues. The doctors gave them Ritalin and Wellbutrin and finally added Prozac. Prozac caused violent tendancies in both boys they ended up in the hospital again and one of them had to go to Paradise School for Boys. They put the label crisis child on him. This all tore my family apart.

The Good Drugs Guide

adderall (commercial amphetamine) 30mg capsules
used extensively by US fighter pilots

FranApple

[IrishCatholic]

Bump for later.

[petercooper]

Since ADHD hit the mainstream in the 1980s, prescriptions for Ritalin have skyrocketed.

This sentence needs to be reworded: Since Ritalin was invented in the 1980's, and b/c schools receive alot more funding for "disabled" kids, ADHD cases have skyrocketed.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Good for you and J.J. I'm glad he is doing well.

We had two different "doctors" in two different states (TN and UT) try to foist Prozac on him. He's doing okay, still non-verbal (and probably always will be).

[wagglebee]

Since ADHD hit the mainstream in the 1980s, prescriptions for Ritalin have skyrocketed.

This sentence needs to be reworded: Since Ritalin was invented in the 1980's, and b/c schools receive alot more funding for "disabled" kids, ADHD cases have skyrocketed.

You left something out: A age-old behavior problem (spoiled, bratty, selfish kids) was recategorized as a medical condition, ADHD. Coincidentally, the "discovery" of this "widespread epidemic" occurred simultaneosly with the invention of Ritalin. Most interesting is the fact that ADHD has has no empirical medical diagnosis (i.e. blood test, etc.); but, surprise, surprise, ADHD is quickly "cured" when you drug these children into zombies with Ritalin and similar "miracle" drugs.

If you ever want a really good laugh, call the Neal Boortz show and tell him your kid has ADHD and how much Ritalin has helped, its one of his favorite topics to go off about.

[FrankR]

If you have a wild animal you can't control or contain...you shoot it with a tranquilizer dart.

When the bleeding hearts convinced the governments to lock up parents who discipline their children, the little darlings got free reign to be little monsters.

So then the "drugs-solve-everything" crowd stepped and called acute-brattiness, "ADHD".

"Spare the rod and make the drug companies rich.".