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- The Problem -
No
Ritalin, No
Education!
That's what some
schools are telling
parents
In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the
number of American children diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit and
Hyperactivity Disorder). Almost all of these kids are placed on psycho-stimulant medications
like Ritalin. As this trend continues, our children are rapidly becoming the most
medicated children in the world. With ADHD diagnosis rates ten times greater
than those observed in Europe or Japan,
the United States now consumes 90%
of the annual global production of Methylphenidate.
While psycho-stimulant medication has provided relief to many children
suffering from behavioral disorders, the sudden increase in both the
awareness and diagnosis of ADHD has raised concerns about potential over-diagnosis and about the liberal use of psychotropic medication to modify
the behavior of children. Because minor children are often incapable of
making their own medical treatment decisions, their parents or legal
guardians bear the responsibility of deciding the best course of treatment
for them. But, parents, who are not always aware
of their legal right to informed consent, increasingly report facing strong
social, institutional, and legal pressures to medicate their children.
Behavior that is described as ADHD is often first
observed by teachers, not parents. Well-meaning teachers,
managing oversized classes with ever diminishing resources, urge parents to
place their children on drug therapy. In increasingly
well-documented cases, school administrators have told parents that
their child may not attend school unless he or she is placed on Ritalin or a
similar medication.
In some
circumstances, parents who decline to medicate their children are reported
to child protective services by school administrators, and must then answer
allegations of neglect or
run the risk of
having their children taken away by the state.
>> The Solution: Returning Choice to
Parents
>> Sign the Statement of
Principle
>> Take action in Support of the Child
Medication Safety Act.
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