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Is Ritalin the Answer? ... The most controversial of these drugs is methylphenidate, a drug better known by its brand name, Ritalin. ... ADHD cases have actually quadrupled since the late eighties and prescriptions for Ritalin were up six hundred percent from the mid eighties to mid nineties (“How to Treat”, 1998). In several cases, Ritalin has proven helpful in the treatment of children with ADHD by seemingly “normalizing” these children. However, is Ritalin being over prescribed to normal youngsters with rambunctious personalities? Is Ritalin a new, fast, and simple way to discipline and control school aged children or are there considerable benefits of treatment for those children who are professionally diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? ... According to the ADDA, The National Attention Deficit Disorder Association, “three to five percent of US school children take Ritalin” (Sack, 1997, p. ... One study conducted in Baltimore, MD found that the use of Ritalin in school-aged children “doubled every four years between 1971 and the mid-1980s and more than doubled between 1990 and 1995” (http://www. ... Reichenberg-Ullman and Ullman, authors of the popular book Ritalin-Free Kids, say US doctors in the late 1990s were prescribing five times the quantity of stimulants for children as the rest of the countries in the world (www. ...
Because of the recent, drastic increase in prescriptions of Ritalin, many states have developed new laws that prevent school personnel from suggesting, requiring, implying, or making statements that may be construed as offering medical advice, such as “your child should be taking medication” (Wiseman, 2002, para. ... However, Ritalin supporters, such as Fumento, believe that the use of ADHD drugs is “in the school’s interest to deal with behavioral and discipline problems because it’s so easy to use Ritalin to make kids compliant: to get them to sit down, shut up, and do what they’re told” (Fumento, 2003, p. ... Could it be that this kind of attitude has caused the dramatic rush of Ritalin prescriptions in the US? ...
Most of the controversy spawns from the use of drugs to treat children, especially stimulant drugs such as Ritalin. With prescriptions for Ritalin up six hundred percent in the last decade, questions about the safety, long term effects, and consequences of the drug have arisen. Some call it the Ritalin Craze and it is obvious why: “Ritalin use more than doubled in the first half of the decade alone and the number of schoolchildren taking the drug may now be approaching the four million mark” (Fumento, 2003, para. ... Yet, Ritalin is a Schedule II drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse, which classifies it in the same category as cocaine, PCP, and morphine. In recommended doses, Ritalin improves concentration and calms the child. However, high doses of drugs such as Ritalin may cause central nervous system and cardiovascular damage as well as hypertension (“How to Treat”, 1998). With the possible dangerous effects of Ritalin, those who recommend that a child be medicated for ADHD should be extra cautious in their diagnosis.
Children as young as one year have been diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed a variety of drugs like Ritalin, clonidine, and Prozac. ... Astonishingly, LeFever’s estimates of Ritalin rates were only half of what was actually found in the study.
DeGrandpre warns us of the effects of Ritalin in his first book, Ritalin Nation (2000). ... DeGrandpre’s book on America’s obsession with and reliance on Ritalin caused quite a commotion as it informed the nation – parents and teachers alike – of Ritalin’s powerful effects. ... Fumento quotes Sowell as suggesting, “there is a growing tendency to treat boyhood as a pathological condition that requires a new three R’s – repression, re-education and Ritalin” (Fumento, 2003, para. ... In fact, Ritalin is used by three times as many boys as girls in the United States. ... Perhaps the race gap in Ritalin prescriptions is directly related to the income gap. ... Unlike the controlled substance, Ritalin, those taking Strattera will be able to have the medication refilled each month without requiring a new prescription (“FDA Approves”, 2003). Although this drug may be the most practical for treating ADHD patients, other types of medication may be just as useful without the upsetting side effects of drugs like Strattera and Ritalin.
Approximate Word count = 3421
Approximate Pages = 13.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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