Posted on 09/18/2005 8:43:09 PM PDT by Love_For_Freedom
The number of children being prescribed drugs for so-called behavioural disorders has soared to a record high, causing alarm that children are being unnecessarily "drugged into submission".
Prescriptions of Methylphenidate - most commonly sold as Ritalin - rose to 359,100 last year, a rise of 344,400 since 1995. Figures from the Prescriptions Pricing Authority reveal that there has been a 180-fold increase in prescriptions since 1991 when only 2,000 were issued in England.
The growing use of Ritalin - an amphetamine-based stimulant which improves concentration and is nicknamed the "chemical cosh" because of its calming effects - has alarmed critics. It is almost entirely prescribed to children under 16 in this country. Controversially, it has been estimated that one in 20 children suffers behavioural disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, for which Ritalin is prescribed.
But critics of the drug say that doctors give it to children who are merely displaying normal emotional changes experienced during childhood. Campaigners believe that the increasing use of Ritalin follows the trend in America where it has been prescribed to children as young as 15 months.
Last night, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, an organisation that campaigns against psychiatric violations of human rights, condemned the increasing prescription of drugs for children. "Too many psychiatrists are being irresponsible in prescribing mood-altering drugs which are pharmacologically similar to cocaine, and then claiming they have 'cured' children of their 'condition'," said a spokesman.
"Some children may be a little boisterous but psychiatry's fixation on labelling such difficulties and prescribing medication is nothing more than pseudo science. Children are being drugged into submission."
That's an outrage. Those teachers and counselors ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Where can find out the numbers - Percentages of boys vs girls on Ritalin (and other prescription drugs)?
are you sure? this link: http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=1409
and the link to the telegraph from that site: http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/09/18/nrit18.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/09/18/ixnewstop.html
seem to work just fine for me. dont know how you got to a chat site
Thanks for the info, I'd wondered about that since I first heard about it.
It seems a lot of those minds, when not kept clouded by drugs, may be the most active minds and quite valuable when focused and trained.
If I recall didn't one of the boys at Columbine want to join the Marines but got turned down due to Ritalin?
You linked this thread to your chat site, not to the Telegraph.
Just a thought.
Oh public school is too slow and simple for you Little Billy? You say you want a challenge? That doesn't seem right. Why don't you take 3 half gram tablets of soma Billy. That'll make you feel better and you won't have to think so much all the time.
Yeah, it is.
I don't know what "chat site" you're talking about
Dr. Breggin is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist who thinks enough is enough.
Your link works for me.
A young person just out of college told me today that a lot of students at the university that were prescribed ritilan as young children, often become methanphetamine users in college. They are hooked on speed and use it to stay up for days at a time 'studying' for exams.
This is in England if I am not mistaken. The numbers in the USA would probably be 3 times that. My guess nothig to back it up other than using our larger paopulation.
Anyway, This is an outrage. It should be stopped. Parents YOU are (ir)resposnible for what your kids are ingesting. YOU have to live with the outcome. YOU need to take charge of your kid's life. YOU need to be accountable. YOU probably can't handle the truth!
I am a nationally certified coach and referee in the martial arts field, as well as the director of the aau tang su do, tae kwon do program for the state of VA. I have been so for the last ten years. I have never seen a single child on these drugs able to compete on a national level.
There is a definite relationship between the drug and the ability to formulate that which it takes to fight or compete on a level past "club" level. No matter what they say the effects of the whole thing seem no different than the results i have encountered with those that are heavy pot users.
It is a social travesty, and is a method of trying to de-masculize young men and make them more like little girls in their methods of learning and activities. Instead of looking at the methods of teaching they look at the methods of keeping boys in a system that obviously was not made for them.
Not too long ago Time Magazine ran an article called, "The War Against Boys." In this article they prognasticated that the stats show that the last boy that will go to college will happen in the year 2070-2080, present trends staying the same.
The little secret is that the feminists have been able to usurp the function of young boys and create an atmosphere in which they can barely function. I am a single dad (widower) of four sons. I see evidence of this war against boys on a daily level. I refuse to allow any of my sons to be put on any of these drugs, and if the teachers have a hard time teaching them it is because they cannot teach. My sons are gentlemen and do what they are told.
However, i have recieved notes from moron teachers saying stuff like, "your son was staring out of the window today," and "Your son had a hard time sitting still today." I usually reply that they basically don't understand the way to teach young boys, and that if my son is not listening then by all means give him the opportunity to do some push ups, jumping jacks, and maybe a couple laps around the school until he gets back on tract.
Little boys are not little girls. They do not learn the same way, and they are not ready to sit for hours a day listening to someone tell them stuff. At the ages that kids are required to start school today, they are unable to sit still in class without being doped up.
When i recognized this with my youngest son i kept him out of school for two years longer and took him in the kayak with me several days a week and taught him some of our native language (cherokee). At the end of two years he was ready to go into a class room and learn. Whenever he or my other sons lose the ability to sit still i give them some physical exercise and they are right back on tract.
I do not think that the basic teacher of these boys is agenda driven, just ignorant. Most teachers (especially females) were taught that boys were to be kept down so that girls can get caught up. They were taught that the nature of a boy, adventerousness, active, and full of excitement, was bad and had to be limited. This created and has continue to create a society in which boys are more and more becoming nothing other than the worker class.
Every year we see a greater percentage of boys either dropping out of HS, or college. Each and every year about 63-65% of all college graduates are women. That in and of itself should tell you something. This number does not satisfy the feminists in the least. They want 100% domination and will not settle with any successful boys.
My suggestion is to keep young boys at home till they are seven or eight, and then to keep a strong watch on the way their early years teachers are dealing with them. If they say that the girls are being favored in class, you can bet that they are probably right. If you do not keep the boys interested in school at that age they will fall hopelessly behind and will experience the soul defeating failure that keeps them from showing exuberance toward their schoolwork and studies... ie they will be headed for the workerclass and not for the diploma.
These things have become so clearly obvious that even the secular liberal establishment is murmuring about it's effect on our society.
As someone who has been on Ritalin (and still on another form of ADHD medication), let's clear up some things.
1) ADHD does not occur in one type of home over others. Poor kids aren't more likely to be diagnosed with it than rich kids.
2) ADHD is diagnosed by a series of assessment tests. There ARE ways of diagnosing it using MRIs and other brain scans, but they're expensive and used mainly in clinical research.
3) Girls are now being included in greater numbers of studies of ADHD. This is a grossly underdiagnosed group who have been ignored for decades based on gender and a difference in symptoms and how they are expressed.
4) ADHD is often seen in families. Genetics is being studied in greater relation to ADHD. Many researchers are starting to study how ADHD and dementia/alzheimer's are related, as well.
5) Unmedicated ADHD children make more hospital and doctor visits than ADHD children on a prescribed medication. This involves more than just a broken arm or injury from hyperactivity.
6) ADHD doesn't just affect children. Adult ADHD is now becoming a greater issue, especially for those who have crappy insurance. Just because you are no longer an adolescent doesn't mean that the problem goes away.
I was raised in a middle class, two parent household with a mother who was a teacher (and the disciplinarian). My dad, brother, and I all have ADHD, (God bless my mom). There is a noticable difference when I don't take the ADHD medication.
So, before you decry all ADHD diagnoses as false, check out some real facts.
Oh yea, I've heard about them getting hooked on the ADHD medication Adderall, which is just Amphetamine too, they snort it and eat it to stay up all night writing essays and studying for exams. Its completely insane at the colleges now, kids pretend they have ADHD just to get the medication and then they either sell it or use it themselves. They don't even have to bother buying speed or methanphetamine from drug dealers anymore, all the drugs they need are just a prescription away.
CHADD or NOT real researchers. They get huge amounts of money from the drug companies. They are patsies.
Teachers are often so full of themselves and their degrees that they can not comprehend that they might be boring the begeebers out of someone. After all, they're the experts, they have the college degrees, they're the professionals; how could that be? My kids have learned to sit still when bored but I'll tell you, I am sometimes awed by their self-control when I'm with them and I'm so bored that I could scream. It's all I can do to control myself, too. I can understand why kids do not have the self-control to endure this day after stinkin' day for 9 months. Some folks need to gt over the idea that when a kids acting up, he's being bad.
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