Ritalin as Last Resort?

Colorado Discourages ADHD Drugs – Educators Buck Treatment Trend

Jillian Lloyd, Christian Science Monitor – Colorado’s education board is now urging schools to rely more on effective classroom discipline and less on medication for unruly kids, and the move has catapulted the state to the forefront of an intense debate over the use of behavioral drugs for school-age children.
The statement was prompted by news that student gunmen in several mass school shootings were taking psychiatric drugs – and it marks the first time a government body has officially registered concern about the growing prevalence of such prescriptions among U.S. youths.
Not surprising, the decision by the Colorado Board of Education has sent shock waves through the medical community. To many, the move seems a desperate attempt to explain the recent rash of school violence, based more in hysteria than common sense.
To board members and their supporters, however, the one-page document represents a shift in attitude toward drugs such as Ritalin, Prozac, and Luvox – and a new unwillingness to put schools in the position of influencing parents to medicate hard-to-control kids.

Influenced by School Shootings
They also acknowledge that the recent spate of school shootings influenced the decision. One of the Columbine High School gunmen had been taking Luvox, and student shooters in Springfield, Ore., Jonesboro, Ark., Pearl, Miss., Paducah, Ky., and Conyers, Ga., were reported to have been on that or other drugs.
“People are on pins and needles about this,” says William Moloney, state commissioner of education. “We don’t know if there’s a link to school violence. But we’re taking the radical step of saying that maybe someone might want to look at this.”

Prescribed for Nonexistent Problem?
Such medications have become a part of daily life for an estimated 6 million American schoolchildren. Most often, the drugs are administered when a child is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The American Medical Association considers ADHD a legitimate disorder that can be treated effectively with medication.
But critics assert that ADHD is at best overdiagnosed and, at worst, nonexistent. The primary treatment for ADHD, Ritalin, has been administered to America’s youths for 50 years, but its use has tripled in the past five years.

Toddlers Too?
Meanwhile, a recent study at the Michigan State University in East Lansing revealed that both Ritalin and Prozac were being prescribed to toddlers between the ages of 1 and 3. And a study in New York found that boys of color are 11 times more likely to be on medication than is the general student body.
Against this backdrop, many parents complain schools pressure them to medicate their children for disruptive behavior, and some are applauding Colorado’s resolution, a nonbinding measure with no legal effect.
“Educators see Ritalin as something that’s going to make their lives easier, rather than making modifications in their classroom,” says one Colorado parent, who requested anonymity. “The problem is that the drug robs these kids of their personality. They become these quiet little robots.”

Source: ABCNews