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A Deadly Coincidence: School Shootings and Drugged Students
CFP ^ | April 4, 2005 | Alan Caruba

Posted on 04/04/2005 6:42:59 AM PDT by MikeEdwards

I keep waiting for someone to notice the way the rash of school shootings the U.S. has experienced has coincided with the massive program of drugging "over-active" students or those deemed to have an "attention deficit." Medicating students has replaced counseling.

On December 1, 1997, Michael Carneal, a troubled 14-year-old, killed three students and wounded five others at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky. In 1998, there were three events in which boys, one as young as 11, killed classmates and teachers. Most notorious is the April 20, 1999 Columbine High School massacre by two boys, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, who killed twelve students and a teacher, and wounded 23 others before committing suicide.

There were two incidents in 2000, one involving a 6-year-old who shot and killed another 6-year-old at Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Michigan, and on May 26, Nathaniel Brazill, 13, killed his English teacher on the last day of classes in Lake Worth, Florida. On March 5, 2001, Charles Williams, 15, killed two students and wounded 13 others at Santana High School in Santee, California. And, in 2003, two students were killed at Rocori High School in Cold Spring, Minnesota by a fellow student, age 15. He is awaiting trial. . . . .

(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: add; adhd; bang; culturewars; drugs; education; educrats; feminism; feminists; medication; pc; politicalcorrectness; prozac; ritalin; school; schoolviolence; shootings; thewaragainstboys
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To: SoftballMominVA

BAH! double post! **mutters about slow connection or some such**


21 posted on 04/04/2005 1:46:11 PM PDT by SoftballMominVA
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To: SoftballMominVA
Diagnosis and drug recommendations are never to be done by a teacher. It is illegal. Cut, dried, no arguments.

Well, that's what I would think, and it certainly makes sense. You are not (at least the typical teacher is not) trained in medicine - so you have no business recommending anything regarding medicines.

But I'm trying to square that with the statement I quoted earlier:

it is easier for teachers and administrators to recommend drugging students who exhibit disruptive behavior or what, to a lay person, appears to be an emotional disorder

and this:
Schools authorities, supported by members of the psychiatric community, have recommended that millions of children be put on psychotropic drugs

Is this the generic "recommendation", like "I think we ought to drug them all", or is it specific, like "I really think Johnny would greatly benefit from Ritalin." ?

The former I can understand as coming from a frustrated teacher, the latter is way overstepping the law as you described it.

I wonder.

22 posted on 04/04/2005 4:08:12 PM PDT by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: Izzy Dunne
"Authorities" may mean medically trained personnel working for the school district--but not teachers. I know that in our school we have psychologists (not psychiatrists) that test students when asked by parents or the school system. These people are qualified for a diagnosis.

However, no matter what that article or any other says, it is illegal for a non-qualifed school member to make a medical diagnosis or recommendation for medication.

Does it happen? Yup. Would it stopped if people were called on it and sued? Yup.

As I said earlier, if anyone here has had that happen to them, you have means to have a teacher severely punished--and someone that should be punished.

23 posted on 04/04/2005 5:32:02 PM PDT by SoftballMominVA
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To: The Lumster
Actually medicating students has replaced discipline. A few swats from the coach used to be worth a whole lot more than a dozen counseling sessions

That and the other thing is the ability to exclude a troubled or troublesome student from school. Now schools must take them, in some capacity until they are 18. For some students, in the past they would find no place for them in school, no need to be on medication, only a job that they would start learning to earn their living. They were not a problem for the school, they did not need capital discipine or medicine, because there was a third elective.

24 posted on 04/04/2005 5:38:04 PM PDT by KC_for_Freedom (Sailing the highways of America, and loving it.)
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To: MikeEdwards

The latest news on ritalin and adderall is that they are both in the same class of drug as cocaine and cause the same interference with endorphins, leaving the user with an inability to feel pleasure. The resulting depression or anxiety is then treated with another drug, like Zoloft or Prozac.


25 posted on 04/04/2005 5:46:25 PM PDT by Eva
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To: silverleaf
"You are certainly entitled to your opinion. Based on your own experience, I presume?

How many ADD/ADHD-diagnosed(by pediatrician or child psychologist/psychiatrist)sons have you raised? "

All of my opinions are based on my experience in life.

I have raised NO sons with ADD/ADHD. I am a father. My sons were raised with compassion, patience, firmness, and love. They were raised as normal boys, and have turned out to be normal men.

However, in my experience in over 20 years in healthcare, I have seen hundreds of young males guilty nothing more than being normal boys, who have been labeled and drugged by a society that seeks a passive submissive male as opposed to a dynamic, questing, adventurous one.

The "disease" is, once again in my opinion, a non-disease. What ADD labeled boys need is not drugs, but parenting.
26 posted on 04/04/2005 6:19:14 PM PDT by Bushforlife (I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born. ~Ronald Reagan)
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To: television is just wrong

Yes, food allergies can cause ADD/ADHD-like behaviors. That's why we had over $2000 in lab tests done on our youngest w/negative results.

The only "dietary" thing that has helped him is caffeine- slugging down half cup of Mountain Dew with his breakfast (a tip I picked up from an ADD/ADHD support group)...the caffeine helps a true ADD kid him to be more alert and focused until his ADHD medication kicks in. Some kids will drink coffee or tea but mine won't.

ADD doesn't make a kid attack another kid- but kids with untreated ADD often have accompanying mood disorders, or they develop mood disorders and engage in antisocial behaviors as a result of being treated differently by other kids and adults in authority over them. They feel "left out" because they do not, can not, conform to group behaviors. They get angry with others, but most sadly with themselves. Once their self esteem plummets, it's usually a downhill battle for them not to fall in with the wrong crowd and the wrong activities, such as alcohol and drug abuse...both efforts to self-medicate themselves out of their problems. I hope your neighbor is aware of his child's antisocial behavior and is taking steps to get him evaluated and treated, the younger the better.


27 posted on 04/04/2005 6:48:32 PM PDT by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: silverleaf

Yes it does help settle them down. proper nutrients like enough calcium magnesium settles the nervous system down.


28 posted on 04/04/2005 11:11:53 PM PDT by television is just wrong (Our sympathies are misguided with illegal aliens...)
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