Need For Ritlin Rooted In Lax Parenting

IOL ^ | 7-22-2003

[ProudGOP]

He would literally ... and I mean LITERALLY, it happened ... be distracted by a fly on the wall.

Why do you think this isn't normal?

[GB]

My wife and considered home schooling, but it's simply not feasible for our situation. Even if it was, though, IMHO our child, with his particular set of problems, needs to be in a structured, old-fashioned classroom evironment with other kids. The Christian school he goes to ... which we love, BTW, it is a REAL Christian school, not just in name only ... is the best way to get that since you can't get it today in government schools. FYI, his school uses a lot of curricula that home-schoolers use, like Abeka and Saxon Math.

[GB]

In K5-age kids, yes. For a second- or third-grader though?

Look, I think I'm about to get the same arguments that I've gotten when this subject has come up before here, that we ought to let kids learn at their own pace as individuals, bear with their particular idiosyncracies, etc. That's fine in theory ... how do you apply it in the real world where there are expectations? And if you want to argue that the expectations for kids today are too high, I'll agree with you. They're teaching cursive writing in K5 now and my son did square roots this past year in the third grade. I didn't do those until late elementary school or maybe junior high.

Again, I think there are some parents and schools/teachers who want to drug kids out of convenience. I concede that. I also assert that a lot of the fears expressed here on this subject are from the grassy knoll crowd who fear the government "taking control" of children.

Basically, my point is that a broad brush shouldn't be applied saying that "in every single, solitary situation the choice to put a child on meds is wrong and is a sign of bad parenting." I'll stack my parenting skills and my concern for my child's welfare and development against anyone's.

I think my Sunday School teacher said it best when we talked before we decided to do this for our child. She also had a son who had to take meds up until high school when he grew out of his problem ... he's now in the Air Force, BTW, on a crew maintaining figher planes, so I guess it didn't fry his brain. She said, "If he had high blood pressure or an illness you could see, you'd give him medicine for that, wouldn't you? Just because you can't see it doesn't mean he doesn't need the medicine."

[drjimmy]

Incredibly, he does not see the child involved and has only one face-to-face consultation with the parents. The rest of his work is limited to a daily telephone briefing with the parents on how to treat their child.
Incredibly, this article appears to accept this man's claim of 100% success rate, and calls this "evidence" that ADD may simply be lax parenting. Incredibly, some Freepers are willing to swallow this as well. This sounds to me like Miss Cleo has taken her Psychic Hotline and found a new way to make money off it.

[First Amendment]

No thanks to any teachers social workers or Ritalin pimps

I realize that there are parents on this thread, and out in the world, who don't know what else to do with difficult children. But getting them addicted to hard drugs isn't the only or best choice. Look at the motives of the a) drug companies b) doctors who get to be important and have repeat patients c) teachers who can have drugged kids in their classes and d) some parents who then don't have to deal with the difficult children and maybe change how they are raising them.

And I don't mean to insult any parents here - I know that raising children is one of the most difficult challenges in the world, and one of the most important. One thing to think about is that government schools are actually an ineffective way to teach kids. They are basically indoctrination centers, their purpose is not to bring out the best in children. I am sure there are good teachers or administrators here and there, but the majority are liberals, and many of the administrators draw big salaries, keep their chairs warm, and schools are notoriously top heavy.

Some children are not very scholarly - they need to be learning other skills. The whole idea that every kid needs to go to college is a one size fits all concept that is not realistic. Some kids need more physical activity - especially kids that are so-called ADD. Some children need more time one on one with adults, or some time not in a gang of same age kids all the time.

Some kids are very sensitive to junk food, artificial ingredients and a huge sugar intake. Monosodium glutamate(often called "flavoring" or even "natural flavor") can damage brain function. Changing diet can help most kids.

Another factor is TV watching. Kids that watch a lot of TV and play a lot of video/computer games can have a lot of problems - due to lack of physical activity, lack of interaction with humans, and also the effect of all that stuff (content and media itself) going into the brain is very deleterious.

There are many alternatives to drugs, but they all take work and often changes on the part of the adults around the children.

[ctlpdad]

I agree completely with both of you.

[Kaslin]

I have often said and am still saying it. What these so-called ADD kids need is a good spanking once in a while

[Chemist_Geek]

"I'm open-minded about whether ADD exists, but what is certainly clear is that a lot of symptoms ascribed to such disorders are easily confused with basic behavioural problems that don't need to be treated with a drug," Dyer said.

Clone this guy! It's about bloody time; I hope such a stance gains traction over here on this side of the pond.

[Oystir]

I see the usual, "I am not a doctor but I slept at the Holiday Inn Express" / "all the kid needs is discipline crowd is back in full glory. Your type is ignorant. ADD exists and the meds (which are powerful agents) are a huge help to these kids.

[Oystir]

I see the usual, "I am not a doctor but I slept at the Holiday Inn Express" / "all the kid needs is discipline" crowd is back in full glory. Your type is ignorant. ADD exists and the meds (which are powerful agents) are a huge help to these kids.

[Question_Assumptions]

I think the best parental situations occur when a child has an adult who can be their friend and an adult who can discipline thim, which may be why two parent households work so well as long as both parents aren't hard disciplinarians or soft best friends. A child needs an adult they can trust and talk to and a child needs an adult who can discipline and punish them. It is difficult for one parent to do both jobs.

I do think there are some legitimate cases of ADD but also a lot of cases thar aren't. Diet, discipline, television, and especially sleep can all be a factor in a child's hyperactivity. Sleep is a big issue that most modern parents seem to ignore. Children used to go to bed by 7;00PM, 8:00PM, or 9:00PM, latest but now it isn't uncommon to see them up until 10:00PM, 11:00PM or later with their parents. The first thing that all parents should try is an earlier bed time if their children aren't normally in bed before 9:00PM (or earlier, if they are younger).

[HamiltonJay]

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE!!!

I just had my nephew visit us for 10 days, his mom forgot to send his ritalin with him.

We experienced NO, I REPEAT NO behavioral or other problems during that time, other than simple spoiled behavior that he had ingrained and learned... that obviously did not fly with me or my wife.

Kid is simply a spoiled brat, due to lack of discipline in his home... there is absolutely no reason this kid should be on drugs! In fact once he knew his crap wasn't going to fly, we had no major issues at all.

[ProudGOP]

You never answered my question which was in response to your comments:
He would literally ... and I mean LITERALLY, it happened ... be distracted by a fly on the wall.

My question was why do you think this isn't normal?

[Evil Inc]

Possibly you are ignorant. ADD ADDHD etc symptoms read like a description of young boys behavior. It covers damn near every possibility, and in fact if a kid cant be diagnosed with ADD there is something wrong with them, they are lethargic and dull. I am not ignorant, wife is a school psychologist and we have discussed this in depth. She can easily explain to you what is wrong with the diagnosis abilities of non-professionals and professionals without scruples. She regularly deals with kids drugged without so much as examination by a doctor of any sort. You should hear about the parents behavior and unbelievable neglect that happens. She regularly battles teachers who try to drug every boy that wiggles.

[r9etb]

Anyone who wants to write off all parents of ADD kids as sub-standard is ignorant.

What's more, such folks seem to have made it a political/ideological issue -- which seems to indicate there's something other than "ignorance" driving them.

[livius]

ADD may possibly exist, but certainly not on the scale that it is "diagnosed" at. My daughter worked as a counselor in a summer camp for normal middle-class kids and at least 50% of the boys and about 25% of the girls had been sent off to summer camp equipped with their own bottles of Ritalin.

Breakfast was a giant pill-popping session. This just ain't right.

[r9etb]

ADD may possibly exist, but certainly not on the scale that it is "diagnosed" at.

ADD does exist -- and it's a pretty stupid tactic to deny its reality, just because the drugs are over-prescribed.

[Pukin Dog]

You are 100% right.

Let me tell you my own story.

I was a kid who would rather get into a fight than do anything else. My uncle taught me how to head-butt, and I went to school the next day and started head butting all the other boys. It was great fun, and I saw nothing wrong with it. I would not sit still in school, I would not shut up, and if you made me angry, I would talk back until the teacher sent me out of the room.

After enough calls from school, here came the doctors. I was diagnosed as having an "excessive aggressive and anger" tendencies, and this "new behavior miracle drug" Ritalin was the recommendation. My parents said no, and then they decided to keep me so busy, I did not have time to get angry at anyone. They signed me up for every activity they could find within 20 miles of our home. I swam in competitions, learned Karate, was a boy scout, (yes Eagle, thank you) and had a paper route and cut lawns on the weekends to fund my comic book collection.

When my parents said no to Ritalin, the doctors told them that I would likely be an under-achiever, and not be able to ever get a good job, and that I might even become a criminal, due to my very aggressive nature.

As some of you already know, the Navy took good advantage of my aggressiveness, and put me in the front seat of an F-14 for quite a few years. If you ask me if ADD exists, I will tell you no way. Parents make the difference.

[Evil Inc]

When the govt and insurance companies shell out this much dough it is a political issue. Just like the drug war it is idological because large numbers of professionals, psychiatrists and doctors, disagree with their colleagues that adninister drugs to children based on a 5 minute interview with a harried mother.

[Dimensio]

There's a certain element of ADD/ADHD that is distinct, something that you don't see in "normal" children (including the hyperactive ones who are wrongly drugged). Imagine if whenever you had to focus on a task or a lecture, no matter what the subject was (even if it was something that you found quite enjoyable), you found your attention drifting at intervals no longer than five minutes. No matter what was going on and no matter what you did, you found your thoughts wandering away from the task at hand every five minutes without fail, and you'd be totally lost in your own world for at least two minutes before you realised what was happening and snapped back to attention -- but then five minutes after that you'd be gone again. The cycle continues over and over again, no matter how much you struggle to retain your train of thought. Something distracts you, whether it's a physical presence in the room or just something that comes into your mind It happens everywhere, all the time. That's ADD/ADHD.