Ritalin is way too overprescribed in schools, and there has been controversy about this for a good many years now. It is a known fact that drug companies give kickbacks to schools and doctors who use certain drugs, and Ritalin was at one time one such drug, and maybe it still is. The overwhelming number of kids diagnosed with ADHD is also quite unsettling, for some of them have short attention spans not due to a neurological deficit, but to other things that our consumerist society has directed at kids, such as video games. Schools are using Ritalin in some cases just so that kids can be robots and sit still, and then the teachers don't have to work at their social or behavioral skills. It's sad, really, but our society has become increasingly medicated. Just look at all the drug ads on primetime nowadays, reaching millions of people. For every little ailment, you just take a pill. You just pop a pill for pain, for example, and it may go away. And the pain could be an indicator of, say, appendicitis, which can lead to very serious problems if gone unnoticed.
I used to take Ritalin, and I was then taken off it. The school I was at said it was a good decision, because they found me easier to teach. I also wonder if it sort of screwed up my synapses, which maybe why I feel so tense and distraught and have tough times thinking things through.
- Ray M -
22 Mar 2006, 12:47 pm
