I am absolutely certain that my dear husband would have been a candidate for Ritalin if it was available when he was a kid. Until he became ill a couple years ago, he absolutely could not keep still.
I am ever so thankful that it wasn't available. Instead, the nuns in his grammar school took him out of the classroom and gave him real work to do, like helping in the school office.
It amazes me that schools seem to want to make kids (especially boys) sit still as punishment for misbehavior when they should be making them run laps around the schoolyard.
I haven't had a lot of experience with children on Ritalin, but the one I saw was turned into a zombie by the drug.
David Eddings rules.