A Jan. 17 Associated Press news story presented research from the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine about the use of psychiatric drugs in children. The number of children and teenagers in the United States on Ritalin, antidepressants or other psychiatric drugs showed a marked upward trend from 1987 to 1996, the study said. (Stimulants were the most commonly prescribed psychiatric drugs for kids, followed by antidepressants and then mood-stabilizing medication.)
There are two ways to interpret this data. First, one could say that this surge in prescriptions means that we are better able to understand children’s afflictions today. We know what the symptoms are and how to treat them, attaining the target behavior.
The second way to interpret the rise in medicated children is that we are prescribing drugs to replace the once-instilled virtues of respect, responsibility and obedience.
My opinion on the matter is that parents are not doing their jobs and teachers have too little patience the great majority of the time. The adults of today did not have all these drugs when they were growing up. Most of them turned out to be respectable citizens.
What has happened to family values? They were thrown away with the invention of fast food, TV and video games.
What are we throwing away just to get a classroom of orderly students? There is no way to test that. We can only imagine the talent in the wasted verbal, technical, artistic and other abilities.
Though our society is rapidly becoming extremely college-oriented, I firmly believe that not everyone was meant to go to college. Not that they do not possess the ability to do so, but that they just don’t want to go for some reason or another.
Some are very happy with just not fitting in the school mold. Just because a child doesn’t fit into the dream his father had for him doesn’t make him need psychiatric help.
I concede that some children do need medication. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and the like are valid diagnoses. However, there has been research published that suggests the children who need help aren’t getting it. Though the number of medicated children somewhat corresponds to the estimated number of children who need help, this doesn’t imply that the two numbers refer to the same children.
The Associated Press quotes child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. David Fassler, who said the percentage of medicated children wasn’t “…out of range. But the real issue is: are the right kids getting treatment?” It’s a disturbing question.
Another problem is that during the early years of medicating children for “acting out,” doctors did not keep up with whether the child received counseling.
Many child clinical psychologists will tell you that behavioral modification therapy should be the first avenue explored, along with some counseling sessions about why the child feels they are acting out.
I would feel much more comfortable knowing if there is a simple problem that can be fixed easily before I put my child on medication.
Are we doing any better? More children are on medication. More diagnoses of ADD and ADHD are occurring everyday. Some would say that we are winning the battle and making a better society. I say who in the world gets to decide what a “better society” is?
To me, a good society is one in which all children get to have dreams and the means to achieve them. Just as medicine is used to regulate “problem” children, if carried to the extreme, it could one day be used to make gifted children fit in the “normal” classroom setting. If this sounds absurd, prescribing psychiatric drugs to children who don’t need it is equally absurd.
A better society is one that serves each individual to the best of its ability. And if that means teachers have to be more patient and parents have to spend more time with their kids than the television, so be it.
I’d rather give a bit more than have the choice of who and what my children want to be taken away from them.
JanaZ Hatcher is a junior political science and psychology major.