A buddy of mine recently put his oldest son on ADD drugs. The "why" behind it was that the kids was a B and C student and he wanted the kid to be an A student. Lack of focus in the classroom, daydreaming, normal boy stuff was attrributed to the lack of A's.
The drugs I guess, worked, because the kids scores went up.
So, knowing that when your kid is doing .... less thank you expect, can we justify drugging our kids to get the results we, as parents, want?
Example - little Johnny throws 5 mph slower than the top kids in his baseball league. We put him on some drugs and VOILA! We no have little Johnny throwing 3 mph FASTER.
I know, I know, legal vs illegal drugs but c'mon, lets be honest, ADD and ADHD drugs are Schedule III drugs like LSD, Meth and some barbitutates. Long term effects are unknown on ADD and ADHD drugs just like there are on steroids and HGH's .....
Because these drugs have passed the FDA approval process, I would grant them the assumption of being safe. I take antibiotics when my doctor prescribes them. I take innoculations when they are available (Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B vaccines). Do I know what is in these substances or what their long term effects are? No. I trust to the system. I trust to the system when I climb on board an airplane and fly through the air at +500 MPH 35,000' in the air. Sometimes our trust is misplaced; most often it is not.
It seems to me, in the absence of any consensus that these drugs do more harm than good, that if these drugs can change a C student into an A student, it is a good thing. It isn't like there is no upside to taking the drugs -- significantly improved academic performance, better prospects for entering the college of one's preference, etc. You don't get a "do over" for High School. If you get out of High School with a C average, about the 50th percentile of your graduating class, SAT score in the 1350 range (on a 2400 scale), you don't get a second chance 5 years later to vault out of this mediocrity.
Fortunately, my children have not needed these substances to achieve in academics. I would feel nervous about putting my kids on these drugs. Generally, my preference is to try to solve my problems without using drugs. In my personal life, I prefer to deal with my elevated cholesterol by exercise, reducing my weight, limitingmy intake of high cholesterol foods (eggs, red meat), and by taking Metamucil (my doctor recommends this for reducing cholesterol) INSTEAD of taking lipitor. So far this seems to work. On the other hand, if this did NOT work, taking lipitor would make a lot of sense, if it worked for me.
I've had experience with kids who have such an extreme mental imbalance that drugs seem to be the only effective measure to help make their lives a little more normal. I've also had experience with kids who no little discipline, and drugs are used to control (or inhibit) their behavior. I've had experience with kids going on and off medications. These drugs definitely have an impact on students mental characteristics, and it's no wonder that they effect academic performance.
IMO, there are too many cases where drugs are used to make up for a lifetime of poor parenting. Of course, I don't have any other fix for the situation, and since I have to deal with these kids 45 minutes at a shot, and teach them mathematics in that time slot, there are times I'm thankful that some kids are on these drugs. (I hope my honesty doesn't offend anyone.)
i believe there needs to be a balance. some kids absolutely need chemical help, but i also feel we overprescribe as a rule.
the transition to high school was very bumpy for my oldest son this year. he was having wild mood swings, heightened by anxiety and panic attacks. a solid A student became a C student. a kid who had always started on his football team was benched midseason. he was dryheaving and hyperventilating before both classes and games.
we took him to see some doctors and counselors. they suggested he had an anxiety disorder, and immediately recommended medication.
i didn't allow it.
see, i went throughEXACTLY the same thing when i was his age. we didn't diagnose stuff like that. my old man suggested i pull my head out of my arse and get over it. amazingly, i did.
i worked with my son for a couple hours every day, and taught him the same mental exercises i still use to this day to control anxiety attacks and infrequent bouts of depression. it works. his grades have crept back up into the A range, and he won back his starting job by the end of the season.* he has more confidence than ever, and a formerly shy kid is becoming extremely extroverted. so far, so good.
bottom line for me is listen to the pros, but at the end of the day a parent has to trust his or her own judgment, at least initially.
*sidenote-football is NOT the most important thing in my life re my sons, i use it only to illustrate a point. although i do get a kick out of watching him and his brothers slobberknock people all over the field
can't even say i'm reliving past glories. they are better than i ever was. hell, my HS freshman has 75 pounds on me. fortunately, i keep them in line with blind, unreasoning and irrational fear.
i believe there needs to be a balance. some kids absolutely need chemical help, but i also feel we overprescribe as a rule.
the transition to high school was very bumpy for my oldest son this year. he was having wild mood swings, heightened by anxiety and panic attacks. a solid A student became a C student. a kid who had always started on his football team was benched midseason. he was dryheaving and hyperventilating before both classes and games.
we took him to see some doctors and counselors. they suggested he had an anxiety disorder, and immediately recommended medication.
i didn't allow it.
see, i went throughEXACTLY the same thing when i was his age. we didn't diagnose stuff like that. my old man suggested i pull my head out of my arse and get over it. amazingly, i did.
i worked with my son for a couple hours every day, and taught him the same mental exercises i still use to this day to control anxiety attacks and infrequent bouts of depression. it works. his grades have crept back up into the A range, and he won back his starting job by the end of the season.* he has more confidence than ever, and a formerly shy kid is becoming extremely extroverted. so far, so good.
bottom line for me is listen to the pros, but at the end of the day a parent has to trust his or her own judgment, at least initially.
*sidenote-football is NOT the most important thing in my life re my sons, i use it only to illustrate a point. although i do get a kick out of watching him and his brothers slobberknock people all over the field
As a teenager I had moments of mind numbness, my father felt that if I still had them after a couple thousand bales of hay then maybe we could try some other form of medications, they consisted mostly of splitting fire wood or painting the house.
then you can't discuss this rationally - you inherently follow what you're told to
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we took him to see some doctors and counselors. they suggested he had an anxiety disorder, and immediately recommended medication.
when have you EVER went to a physician and they said " you're fine, go home" .. without prescribing anything or cutting anything off/out ? They're in it for the money, they HAVE to prescribe pills/drugs, thats a huge cash cow for them and those who sponsor them.
I'm going to have to agree with balsa"™s first line.
I think stealthy, that this is really a moral issue. Do you feel comfortable drugging your kid to enhance performance both or either physically or mentally, or do you want your kid to be who he is? Some parents ( like your friend ) want there kid to top of line! Others are happy with the original state of their children.
You want to know why I think my opinion counts? I used to take a pill ( from 4th grade to 8th grade ) called concerta.
CONCERTA® is approved for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as part of a total treatment program that may include counseling or other therapies.
This pill did help YES.... but in later years of me taking this, it began to wear off, and I actually became depressed at some points, not very often..... So as I said before ( this is how it worked with me ) pills can be a moral issue. For me, it helped in the short term but lost the long term war.
what wouldn't you do for your kids ?
