Posted on 08/08/2002 1:36:17 PM PDT by NYer
MILLBROOK, N.Y. (AP) _ A mother says her son's behavioral problems got worse after school officials gave her an ultimatum: Put the first-grader on Ritalin or he'll be placed in special education classes.
Patricia Weathers has filed notice that she will sue the Millbrook Central School District on behalf of her son, Michael Mozer, for the mental and physical pain she says he suffered for two years starting in 1997. Michael, she said, had trouble focusing and was easily distracted. Officials in the Dutchess County school referred her son to a pediatrician who prescribed Ritalin, Weathers said. By the third grade, Michael was suffering from insomnia, he lost his appetite and was so anxious he chewed his shirt sleeves, collars and pencils, Weathers said.
School officials suggested more medication, she said. Michael began taking another version of Ritalin plus Paxil, an anti-anxiety drug. ``He was having side effects that were making him literally psychotic at one point,'' she said Thursday. Michael's behavior improved on weekends and over breaks, when she would not give him the drugs, she said. She finally stopped medicating her son in December 1999 after he told her voices in his head were telling him to do bad things, she said.
Michael, now 12, was prohibited from entering the school, Weathers said. She now home-schools him and another son. In February 2000, school officials filed a complaint against Weathers with the state Department of Children and Family Services, she said. An investigation cleared her of wrongdoing after independent psychiatric evaluations found her son's sickness was related to the drugs, she said. An employee in Millbrook Superintendent W. Michael Mahoney's office said the district would not comment. The Department of Children and Family Services declined comment citing confidentiality, a spokesman said.
Weathers said she also believes Michael's heart murmur, heard during an examination six months after he was taken off medication, was caused by Ritalin. An exam last year found the murmur was within normal limits. She also claims the drug stunted his growth. Treating Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder with stimulants including Ritalin ``has been associated with small decreases in body weight and height, which do not appear to be clinically significant,'' said Gina Moran, a spokeswoman for Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp, the company that makes Ritalin. Weathers' lawyer, Alan Milstein, declined to discuss particulars of the case but told the New York Post in Thursday's editions he would file the suit in about two weeks. Weathers has started a group called Parents for Label and Drug-Free Education, and said she is in touch with more than 100 parents across the country. Lawsuits similar to Weathers' have been filed against other school districts but were dismissed, Moran said.
A class-action lawsuit accusing Novartis, the American Psychiatric Association and others of encouraging overdiagnosis of children's behavioral disorders to boost sales of Ritalin was dismissed in March.
I disagree. Before all the new-fangled leftist education and child-rearing ideologies came into vogue, parents and teachers routinely demanded that children behave "like adults" most of the time -- and the children did. The trouble now is that many parents and teachers don't want to be bothered with demanding and enforcing certain behavior from children. It's so much easier to have them drugged into compliance, and spares the loony-lefties from having to confront and abandon their silly ideologies about letting children (and everybody else) do whatever they want whenever they want.
They keep right on with their fantasy which runs like this:
1) Nobody should impose rules, values, etc. on anyone else;
2) Left to decide for themselves, all normal people will be cooperative and participate fully and eagerly in all the leftist indoctrination programs that are provided for their own good;
3) Anyone who doesn't decide to behave this way has a mental illness, and must be drugged for their own good as well as for the good of society.
Unfortunately for them, reality runs like this:
1) Responsible adults have not only the right but the moral obligation to impose rules and values on children;
2) It is perfectly normal for children to put up resistance to said rules and values;
3) Responsible adults have a further right and moral obligation to meet said resistance with such greater resistance as is required to ensure compliance.
My situation is proof positive that something is wrong.
My son did not qualify for special ed, ( like I didn't know he would not prior) however the public school insisted they would not let him into second grade unless I had him medicated.
He was in private school until end of first grade.
He was in a private school with very high standards that my child could not meet. They offered to have him repeat 1st grade but I just could not do that to him so I opted for the public school.
This is an awesome website sponsored by Dr Ann Tracy. Tons of great info and articles.
True...once you get meds on your record through insurance or other means....you are basically tagged. If the drugs are 'OK' to take....why tag people????
I strongly recommend that you visit the following links:
Maybe kids need a little coffee to get focused like we do?
Nowadays, hyperactive boys don't even get recess! They have to run that energy off.
A coworker's son, assessed as ADHD, was put on ritalin in Kindergarten. The parents noticed a dramatic change in his temperament. During school breaks, they would stop the ritalin and his behavior would return to norml, albeit a bit hyperactive ... hey, he's a boy doing what boys do naturally.
By the end of Kindergarten, they decided to look into alternative treatments. They took him to a nutritionist. After running a battery of tests, she put him on a special diet ... all of those "kiddie" cereals, pumped up with artificial colors and sugar were banned, as were the same type of snacks and beverages. He calmed down and they sent him off to first grade, drug free. Their son, in coming off the ritalin, described the experience as "coming out of a cloud" where other voices were directing him.
You are on the right track! Visit Dr. Breggin's web site and you'll understand the long term, permanent damage from ritalin and the other psychotic drugs.
We went through this "coveyor belt" deal with our son: from teacher to school counselor, to psycologist to doctor (IE: drug pusher).
Of course each told the next in line what their diagnosis should be.
As we were seeing the MD., the psycologist came in and mentioned to the doctor, "Oh you might consider the diagnosis of "Depression" rather than ADHD. "Why?' asked the doctor. She replied, "I've reviewed their insurance and it will only pay for two visits for ADHD!"
I was stunned that the both of them thought we were that stupid!
Also made me wonder how many childrens lives were ruined as they try to come off this stuff as adults with no behavior modification in the program.
Consider too that boys are very different from girls, both physically and emotionally. Boys are more physical and need to burn off some of that energy. It used to be that schools had recess at which times the girls often swang on swings while the boys climbed monkey bars. Kids would often work out their differences by getting into brawls ... but that's no longer allowed, either.
Since the sixties when feminists sought to balance and equalize the sexes, and environmentalists expressed concerned about exposure to certain materials, and school systems expanded the curriculum - boys are now expected to behave like girls, schoolyard swingsets and gym equipment have been scaled down or eliminated, and schools have reduced time spent at recess while increasing after school homework. (That's a long sentence but I think you get the point). Children today, especially the boys, are being denied the time they need to burn off their energy and simply enjoy their childhood. It's no wonder so many of them end up in the psychologist's office (another gift from the sixties).
I agree. One of our son's early teachers suggested we put him on medication. I suggested she get off her dead ass and teach. She thought I was barbaric and I told her that if she wanted to find out how totally barbaric I really was, she should just keep doing the piss-poor job she was doing. Somehow, the problem solved itself...and our son is still free of drugs.
Being a hs, sahm allows me to *really* know my children. (I don't see how a shrink would know the true personality of any child.) My 4th daughter would have been diagnosed as ADD or some such phony diagnosis had I sent her to school and I told my husband that there was no way my daughter was going to be drugged for the convenience of the teacher. Granted she learned things differently but that just meant that *I* have to work with her different learning style. My 6th child (a cute but hyperactive 18 month old) will pose an altogether different challenge since he's a boy. But I think that I'll be able to handle it when the time comes. :)
I have a friend who has a daughter exactly as my 4th daughter and she too refuses to have her daughter drugged. She is a hsing mom.
Unscrupulous lawyers and litigation have ruined childhood for our kids. I would propose jumping rope as an alternative, but then some Ritalin-drugged kid would probably try to hang himself or another kid from the monkey bars.
Best thing to do is to keep our kids out of public school; but if that is not possible, keep a close watch on what is going on. I fully intend to, as I've had to get back to work and can't homeschool my kids this year.
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