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SCHOOLS

Doctors Give Adderall to Help Kids in Bad Schools

In poor neighborhoods, doctors fix academic problems with medication

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by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t

Image: New York Times

Some doctors are now prescribing Adderall to help low-achieving, low-income kids do better in school and have a better future.

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Should doctors prescribe Adderall to help poor kids do better in school?

Comments (view in Forum)

  • u
    Faceman
    !
    i agree 100%.now they are kids that do have learning problems i know this but they need a different classes than students that are average instead of drugging them.these drugs for add and adhd are nothing but amphetamines and thats why they have blood pressure problems.the doctors put these kids on these drugs and when they leave there school enviorment they take them off the drug and the kids go through withdrawals and they go out and seek drugs as adults
  • isis2012
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    @Faceman Thanks! I grew up in the 70's, when it was still ok to give spankings. My mother was the physical punisher and my father was the privilege punisher. My mother was not abusive, she would give me the three or 5 strikes rule and I knew what would trigger her to do it. I was a hyper kid, back in those days and if Adderall was around then, I probably would have been a canidate lol! I would get done with my school work early in class and want to jibber jab with my classmates, who wanted to do the same thing. I grew out of it, because I started to play sports around the third grade and had a vehicle to channel that excess energy. Thats what children need, a hobby or sport that teaches you another type of discipline..
  • isis2012
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    @Wilberhum I'm not talking about child abuse. My mother only gave me occasional spankings, because I was really getting out of line, like throwing rocks at a neighbors house. My mother was effective at nipping behavioral problems in the bud. My father was the privilege punisher and you know what? I'd rather get a whooping instead of not being able to go outside and play or go to the movies.
  • mimi57
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    @isis2012 I agree, exercise and sports are great for kids with behavioral
    problems. Often though, kids with AD/HD have a hard time playing "team"
    sports, so a lot of times they do well in solo sports, such as swimming, track,
    golf, etc., it is also a great stress reliever and does burn off that excess energy.

  • View all 15 replies >

  • puppybrownie
    !
    Don't blame the doctors exclusively, blame the schools, who demand that problem kids be given these drugs, blame the parents, who just go along with it, and blame a system that doesn't allow discipline in public schools.
  • Keyjo
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    The worst drugs, the worst pushers, are prescription drugs for mood and mind, and those who prescribe them.
    Notice how they target the low income children? Fascist-Capitalist plan for control of the masses. Total mind control.
  • marine1
    !
    It seems that the answer to everything is a pill. Prescription drug abusers are growing by leaps and bounds. any idea why? we have more infomation on illegal drug dealers than we do pharmaceutical abuser. any idea why?With todays technology we should be able to track every pill. any idea why we don't?

  • View all 9 replies >

  • PNWest
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    Drugs like this reap enormous profits for the drug manufacturers at the expense of taxpayers. They are not solving the problem, merely covering it up. There should be very strict standards on how these drugs are prescribed to kids.
  • DARSB
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    "There should be very strict standards on how these drugs are prescribed to kids"

    I'm not much in favor of the government interfering with the doctor-patient relationship, particularly when it involves actual treatment decisions.
  • DARSB
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    @Dropnbombs No matter how many times this zombie notion of Death Panels rises from the grave, there is still nothing in the Affordable Care Act interferes with treatment decisions.
  • PNWest
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    @DARSB I don't care if it is the government or the AMA making the rules. I just don't want to see doctors writing wholesale prescriptions for Adderall to 8% of kids. That number is way too high.

  • View all 19 replies >

  • mimi57
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    I have worked with kids who have been diagnosed with AD/HD. Sometimes
    the drugs do help the behaviors, but I think it treats the symptoms and not the
    problem. Too many parents are not involved in their child's life, whether it's
    due to two parents having to work, an overload of stimuli,ie., tv, computers,
    texting, gaming, facebook,etc.. kids are losing their ability to interact and
    are losing social skills..also, poor eating habits such as too many sweets,
    fast food, and lack of nutrition can also cause behaviorial problems. Kids
    need more human contact and love, HUGS not DRUGS.
  • Thegrif
    !
    I have worked as a campus adviser for schools in my county, I have seen kids I believe were just medicated because parents did not do their job, but I have seen kids that without meds were just completely off the chain and unfocused. I also have been a Juvenile Justice Office and a Correctional Officer in state prison. I have seen the right dosing of meds work wonders, but the wrong dosing or no meds at all, and a kid or adult can actually wreck their life.
    The key is the Doctor prescribing the meds, and proper dosing.
  • Quantummist
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    The problem with much of the kids issues goes back to Hillary Clinton's "It takes a village" mindset .... When the Village gets involved a kid has a hundred people claiming authority in there lives and they are told by the Village that they can sue their parents, that their parents have no right to tell them how to live or what to do... The Village tells them it's fine to have sex at 12 and never need to tell the parents they are getting medical treatments for pregnancies or STD's ...

    When your kids are raised by the Village you can bet one of the Village Idiots will get involved.....
  • u
    Just_Lisa
    !
    Q this is sad too. In my growing up years, everyone kinda looked out for each other. Also with us kids. You are sure correct on the village idiot having a negative impact when parents think this in today's times. BIG MISTAKE to think this anymore.
  • Denizen_Kate
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    Quantumnist, your view may be a tad extreme, but I agree on avoiding the village approach. Parenting should not be done by committee.
  • Quantummist
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    @Denizen_Kate .. I don't think it all that extreme... Many a parent today leaves the informative times of life of their kids to the Village... They sit them in front of the TV to mould them, use school and electronics to let the Village answer the questions and raise the kid... Then when the kids do as their assorted village of babysitters, village information providers, Village Social Pressures causeing them to shave their head, run a line of staples down their thigh and smoke enough crank to kill Ol Betsy, We can call it extreme.......
  • o
    Sonny
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    It may take a "village to raise a kid"...But it only takes one deliberate LIE to destroy one's credibility---forever!...So why did YOU lie to Mimi?

  • View all 6 replies >

  • TeamAmerica
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    Some parents love Adderrall. It's another way for them to get high, free of charge. You wouldn't believe how often mommy or daddy "loses" their child's meds or they are
    "stolen".
  • u
    Wisdom73
    !
    Adderall is basically speed (dextroamphetamine and amphetamine). Just what we need, to get our kids addicted to amphetamines instead of providing adequate curriculum. Way to go America...investing in our children for a better tomorrow. Will we be shocked 10-15 years from now when these kids grow up to be meth addicts?
  • mimi57
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    Don't know if the child in the photo has a behavioral problem or not...but I've
    noticed that many kids with AD/HD, etc., also have dark circles under their
    eyes and often redness or swelling, possibly indicating allergies or poor
    sleep habits...
  • u
    CommonSense
    !
    In some cases these kids wind up growing up to be drug addicts and it starts with Adderall. At some point Adderall just isn't enough and they decide what they really need is meth which ironically is a legal Schedule II substance (yes, they prescribe meth (Desoxyn) for ADD).
  • akjep6
    !
    Stop drugging kids and give them more attention. This is really frustrating when I see parents drugging their kids, the kids that have taken it are prone to committ suicide. Your stealing their childhood from them and all they really need is individual attention from both parents and teachers. Totally disagree other countries have not allowed their students take the medication and they are doing better than the US academically. If I ever have kids I don't think I'd put my kids in public schools cause the system is just so stupid. Suspending kids for eating energy mints because they resemble drugs? A fight between a Hispanic and black kid is "gang related?" The school system is just so ridiculous
  • Denizen_Kate
    !
    There are many kids with real problems, including ADHD, but perhaps it has become a too-popular diagnosis for children whose parents are not capable of, or not interested in, creating a safe and disciplined environment for their kids. It's a lot of work but it's worth the effort.
  • VVP
    !
    Where is the option that we need a combination of "whooping" them as well as drugs.

    Seriously all these kids need adderall. Instant productivity in an on demand, ADD, wikipedia, video game, Ipod generation built on laziness and lethargy.
  • bsking
    !
    Doctors give adderal 2 kids in public schools to make it easier for union dumbass teachers to control the environment of the classroom with the least amount of effort or resistance.
  • bsking
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    Anybody who's done their homework knows the intent of the public school system was not to educate young minds but to create a reliable working class
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