Posted on 04/28/2002 12:34:37 PM PDT by Al B.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The number of children in the United States prescribed medications to treat depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or other behavioral conditions nearly tripled between 1986 and 1996, according to the results of a study.
In the study, Dr. Mark Olfson of Columbia University in New York City and colleagues reviewed surveys of medication use for more than 50,000 people including about 17,000 children under the age of 18 years in 1986 and 1996. The findings are published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Olfson and his team found that the number of children taking stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall, used to treat ADHD, quadrupled from 6 children per 1,000 in 1986 to 24 per 1,000 in 1996.
Those taking antidepressants such as Prozac or Zoloft, among others, rose from 3 children per 1,000 in 1986 to 10 per 1,000 in 1996, the authors report.
"In 1996, stimulant use was especially common in children aged 6 to 14 years and antidepressant use was common in children aged 15 to 18 years," the report indicates.
"An important challenge ahead lies in determining the appropriateness (and ultimately the effectiveness) of the care provided to a large number of children and adolescents who receive prescribed psychotropic medications each year," Olfson and colleagues conclude.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2002;41:514-521.
When the kids realize what has happened to them, there wil be HELL TO PAY!
I believe there are a few lawsuits already. Not a good thing to have on one's resume. The military is rejecting recruits who took behavioral meds for any length of time. That may spread (but then Democrats might pass a law requiring people to hire those who were on medication).
I have had up to 14 Special Ed kids in a regular high school classroom of 29 students total. No aides, no support, all on my own. Some not all, really need their meds or the entire class is a complete disruption. You can't devote your entire attention to one single student who will not stay on task or focus: refuses to stay in their seat, constantly picking or bothering other students, starting fist fights every other day, throwing things around, swearing, making vulgar sexual comments to girls in the class or touching them inappropriately, and oh ya bringing guns and knives to school too. You can't institutionalize them and somehow they continue to be recycled back into the regular ed classroom where they ruin it for the entire class.
I have seen many different syndromes, with medication the student can function and become a contributing member of society. I remember this one girl that was night & day when she didn't have her meds. Wild girl that would lay down on floor and do just about anything in defiance, I mean anything. When she was on meds, she was fine and class was great for her and everyone else. Meds are not for every problem student but some really need them.
Ya know for the most part you see alot of family dysfunction today and I think that has the biggest impact on students in general.
I guess after breaking up a couple daily fist fights with LIVELY STUDENTS and then seeing how much better they function on their meds; YOU HAVE YOUR EYES OPENED to both sides.
Maybe you should spend a few days in your local high school for a little self education. Go to the least restrictive environment regular ed classroom where you will witness and learn what inclusion is all about. Then spend a few hours in a self-contained classroom, (many spec ed kids bounce back and forth). You will have your eyes opened to reality of education in America and the law; you will also quickly change your perceptions of LIVELY STUDENTS.
I'm sorry, for the life of me I can't figure how so many freepers can be so uninformed about schools today.
In this article, the number of "kids" on medication has increased dramatically. Nope. The number of boys on medication has increased dramatically.
I'm pretty comfortable saying that professional educators know nothing. But perhaps that goes too far. It should, however, be abundantly clear that professional educators are completely incapable of handling boys in the classroom. But if the boys are drugged, the job of classroom management gets so much easier (/sarcasm).
You hit the nail on the head with that one. There is definately more dysfunctionality these days and the kids are reaping what their parents sowed. Screwed up parents have screwed up kids and the original screwed up (en masse) generation was the post WWII baby boomers. I really think TV and permissiveness that started in the 50's & 60's (esp. 60's) started it all. Teacher unionization in the early 60's didn't help either. That's when the liberals were able to get a foothold into the education system.
Maybe I'm a candidate for the tin foil hat club but the reason I include TV is because the liberals have been much more successful than conservatives at using TV for propaganda, especially since the early 70's.
All that said, there's still way too much medicating going on.
Also on the NEA's agenda is the disarmament of the US. Once you have been on meds for mental health reasons for any length of time, you can no longer own a firearm legally. That's right - these kids are all labeled "mentally defective" by the Feds, which rules out buying a gun. For life. Convenient, huh?
Before entering education I was quite ignorant also but sure thought I had it all figured out. I now see both sides after dealing with some of the problems most freepers never even know exist.
Think about actually doing something to change education instead of just complaining; become a conservative teacher and help turn the NEA around.
I wish more people like you would pass that on to the psychiatric profession. Then we might start having an honest discussion about all this.
I hate the NEA as much as you, but they really, I mean really control the direction education is heading. Until more conservatives become NEA members, nothing will change because the current leadership is about a left as can be.
Ya know about 1/3 of the teachers in my school are repubs and over half are hunters. Heck I chase wolves on snowmachine with my ar in winter, and nobody; I mean nobody in my family will ever vote for a democrat after waco. Way it is.
My kid was one of the types you mention. Her problem was that she was illiterate in the 5th grade. A lack of discipline (teachers wanted to be "friends") in the classroom from kindergarten on, and the ham-fisted methods by which incompetent teachers tried to bend her into compliance spoiled her of desire to learn. She was screwed up by the school; then, to remedy the problem, they wanted to put her on drugs: I said no.
It took me nine months of full-time instruction to get her reading at grade-level--undoing the dysfunction the school implanted by means of "sight-say"; and it wasn't easy, because of the laziness with which she was imbued in the grammar school. The only reason I was able to succeed was the parental authority I exercized upon her got results. Public schools employ Pavlovian methods to acquire authority; kids often detect the technique, and rebel. They inherently distrust and disrespect sneaks.
Shame on me for not realizing sooner how destructive is the modern science of education.
She's just fine now, BTW.
In sum, I believe you are dealing with the results of your associates' blunderous applications. Most of the parents can't explain it: you guys just blame them, or nature. (Funny, though, how quickly the schools take credit for good results!)
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