Originally Posted By: martinfocazio

<snip>
You've hit a raw, raw nerve with me here, because I've seen what Ritalin and the other drugs do to exuberant, brilliant, but excitable children.
"The Onion" a satirical weekly paper, had a brilliant "news" article about Ritalin a few years ago:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/32261

"WORCESTER, MA—Area 7-year-old Douglas Castellano's unbridled energy and creativity are no longer a problem thanks to Ritalin, doctors for the child announced Monday. "After years of failed attempts to stop Douglas' uncontrollable bouts of self-expression, we have finally found success with Ritalin," Dr. Irwin Schraeger said. "For the first time in his life, Douglas can actually sit down and not think about lots of things at once." Castellano's parents reported that the cured child no longer tries to draw on everything in sight, calming down enough to show an interest in television."

OK, I'm stepping off this thread because I'll go totally ballistic if I see another post extolling the virtues of easy-to-manage drugged children.



That article was priceless!!!

And I agree completely...
The percentage of children, diagnosed with ADHD, is too high to be real... Either that, or ADHD needs to be removed from the category of a mental disease and declared to be one of the common personality types.

My personal view, is that it is a REAL condition, but one that is over diagnosed to an EXTREME degree...

If I remember correctly, grades in classes right after recess and PE are higher than at any other time of the day. This is thought to be because the kids are tired after running around during recess, and do not have the energy to be disruptive... But the trend is to shorten, or eliminate recess, and also to limit physical activity during that time...