Topic: Be A good boy Johnny and take your Soma

[Weisshaupt]

Dr. Nancy Rappaport, a child psychiatrist in Cambridge, Mass., who works primarily with lower-income children and their schools, added: “We are seeing this more and more. We are using a chemical straitjacket instead of doing things that are just as important to also do, sometimes more.”

Dr. Anderson’s instinct, he said, is that of a “social justice thinker” who is “evening the scales a little bit.” He said that the children he sees with academic problems are essentially “mismatched with their environment” — square pegs chafing the round holes of public education. Because their families can rarely afford behavior-based therapies like tutoring and family counseling, he said, medication becomes the most reliable and pragmatic way to redirect the student toward success.

“People who are getting A’s and B’s, I won’t give it to them,” he said. For some parents the pills provide great relief. Jacqueline Williams said she can’t thank Dr. Anderson enough for diagnosing A.D.H.D. in her children — Eric, 15; Chekiara, 14; and Shamya, 11 — and prescribing Concerta, a long-acting stimulant, for them all. She said each was having trouble listening to instructions and concentrating on schoolwork.

“My kids don’t want to take it, but I told them, ‘These are your grades when you’re taking it, this is when you don’t,’ and they understood,” Ms. Williams said, noting that Medicaid covers almost every penny of her doctor and prescription costs.

[IronDioPriest]

I think the over-prescription of pharmaceuticals to children is a horrific national disgrace. It's evil.

That said, I acknowledge that there are instances when medication is a necessary option. I would never argue otherwise. But discerning instances of necessity, and systematically drugging an entire generation of children, are not equivalent.

[LadyVirginia]

Here's where homeschooling has been a big benefit to my kids.

I've never had any of them diagnosed with learning disabilities but I can tell you that based on what my friends have told me and seeing how they learn they would have been labeled with something.  I have one who would have been labeled a "slow learner" (if they use that label any more)--she ended up with all A's in grad school.  I have another who can't stay seated and focused for more than 30-45 minutes to do tradtional schoolwork. She zones out and really has to work to stay focused.  Yet she taught herself to read at 8 and within a year was reading LOTR and was able to discuss it. Another one refused to join into such stuff as "circle time". I have another one who gets all her assignments done within a couple of hours and refuses to do any more work if she already knows the material.

[Libertas]

"Jacqueline Williams said she can’t thank Dr. Anderson enough for diagnosing A.D.H.D. in her children — Eric, 15; Chekiara, 14; and Shamya, 11 — and prescribing Concerta, a long-acting stimulant, for them all."

 

[Pandora]

"Amanda Rocafort and her son Quintn in Woodstock, Ga. Quintn takes the medication Risperdal."

Her son is eleven, wears an earring, and is missing a vowel in his name.  Amanda needs a beatin'.

Y'all should read the whole piece if you haven't.  It reveals other reasons why Amanda and her husband both need a beatin' each.

The doctors and "educators" cited in the linked piece are claiming the schools do not enough money to treat these children appropriately and that's why the kids need drugging.  I call bullsht.  Schools are receiving more money than ever -- 'course it's mostly to administrators and staff -- and these problems were not seen in "the old days" when there were bigger class sizes and less money.

[Weisshaupt]

"Amanda Rocafort and her son Quintn in Woodstock, Ga. Quintn takes the medication Risperdal."

Her son is eleven, wears an earring, and is missing a vowel in his name.  Amanda needs a beatin'.

Y'all should read the whole piece if you haven't.  It reveals other reasons why Amanda and her husband both need a beatin' each.

The doctors and "educators" cited in the linked piece are claiming the schools do not enough money to treat these children appropriately and that's why the kids need drugging.  I call bullsht.  Schools are receiving more money than ever -- 'course it's mostly to administrators and staff -- and these problems were not seen in "the old days" when there were bigger class sizes and less money.

Yeah, they claim their budgets have been "shrinking" - I call BS. Spending the same as you did last year isn't a cut, but in Govt speak if you expect a 6% increase in budget and only get 3% its a "cut"  However, I say let them do this and without prescription.  We should make all of the hard drugs that are illegal, legal too, and just have the death penalty for anyone who commits a crime while on or addicted to a drug, and have such use disqualify you from any govt aid. .  Yes, there will be an untick in crime for a bit, but that may be worth it to remove these people from the Gene pool - via punishment for criminal acts, or the slow death of wasting away via drug use. If the barbarians will kill themselves willingly, I say we help them out. 

[LadyVirginia]

"Amanda Rocafort and her son Quintn in Woodstock, Ga. Quintn takes the medication Risperdal."

Her son is eleven, wears an earring, and is missing a vowel in his name.  Amanda needs a beatin'.

And Quintn needs some parenting.

[IronDioPriest]

When Dr. Michael Anderson hears about his low-income patients struggling in elementary school, he usually gives them a taste of some powerful medicine: Adderall.

The pills boost focus and impulse control in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although A.D.H.D is the diagnosis Dr. Anderson makes, he calls the disorder “made up” and “an excuse” to prescribe the pills to treat what he considers the children’s true ill — poor academic performance in inadequate schools.

“I don’t have a whole lot of choice,” said Dr. Anderson, a pediatrician for many poor families in Cherokee County, north of Atlanta. “We’ve decided as a society that it’s too expensive to modify the kid’s environment. So we have to modify the kid.”

Dr. Anderson is one of the more outspoken proponents of an idea that is gaining interest among some physicians. They are prescribing stimulants to struggling students in schools starved of extra money — not to treat A.D.H.D., necessarily, but to boost their academic performance.

This person should not have a license in any state to practice any kind of medicine. He should be in prison. Anyone like him should also be in prison.

You know where this leads, right? At some point, the government will mandate the drugging of kids to enhance their academic performance. Then, they will mandate the drugging of all kids, regardless of academic performance.

[benb61]

and these problems were not seen in "the old days" when there were bigger class sizes and less money.

And corporal punishment.  The fear of a paddeling was more than enough to keep some of my classmates in line.  We don't have that option now and the kids know it!

[John Florida]

  Just having the conversation about medicating kids makes my skin crawl.

[Pandora]

Here's where homeschooling has been a big benefit to my kids.

I've never had any of them diagnosed with learning disabilities but I can tell you that based on what my friends have told me and seeing how they learn they would have been labeled with something.  I have one who would have been labeled a "slow learner" (if they use that label any more)--she ended up with all A's in grad school.  I have another who can't stay seated and focused for more than 30-45 minutes to do tradtional schoolwork. She zones out and really has to work to stay focused.  Yet she taught herself to read at 8 and within a year was reading LOTR and was able to discuss it. Another one refused to join into such stuff as "circle time". I have another one who gets all her assignments done within a couple of hours and refuses to do any more work if she already knows the material.

From   http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/10/24/8-reasons-homeschooling-is-superior-to-public-education/?singlepage=true

[Libertas]

Heh.

I see our friend Francis has a post. 

Private schools or homeschooling, the first step to true "reform" is getting your kids out of the leftist indoctrination centers.

And to me nothing says stupid like the whole ridiculous debate over bullies.  Bullies are easy to deal with - you bash them in the middle of the face as hard as you can with your fist!  Schools are like prison, want to send the right message?  Pick out the biggest bullying a-hole in the place and kick his ass on day one.  People do not have to accept victim status and live in fear, that choice is no choice.  The metrosexuals can stick their "violence isn't the answer" BS up their bums!

Better yet, just GTFO of the indoctrination center.