Mass Drugging of Schoolchildren Remains Dark Secret of Public Education, Psychia

[pritchke]

Date: 3/24/05 Press Release Source: NewsTarget.com

Believe it or not, until recently, it has been perfectly legal for schools to force schoolchildren to be put on psychoactive mind-altering drugs as a condition of attending that school. That is, the school administrator or counselor could insist that a certain child be dosed with mind-altering drugs. It sounds bizarre, but it was absolutely true until just recently.

Finally, Congress has passed legislation that bans schools from forcing parents to drug their children for behavioral problems. This law was even signed by President Bush, believe it or not.

Now you may think that, gee, this wasn't a problem, I never heard about this. But in fact it was a huge problem. There have been many cases where children were denied an education because their parents refused to put them on narcotic stimulants, antidepressants and other drugs that we now know cause violent behavior and increased risk of suicide. There were schools actually forcing parents to put their children on drugs that would cause aggressive behavior and suicidal thoughts. And, in extreme cases, these drugs actually caused or contributed to the kind of mass murders like we saw in Columbine where the two high school students picked up assault rifles, went to school, and blew away teachers and classmates. These two kids were on antidepressant drugs -- it's still one of the most censored stories of the last decade.

More

Not quite sure what to make of this. I think our teachers are far too interested in drugging our kids. Every kid or puppy I know has ADD by todays standards. They are kids for crying out loud, you expect them to stay still for more than 10 or 15 minutes especally with all the sugar some of them may get.
I think our teachers are more concerned, these days, about making things easy on themselves than what is best for our kids. I know if any school ever forced drugs on my kids I would be taking them to court over it.

[ 04-22-2005, 12:15 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Morgeruat]

I think you're exactly right Pritchke, between TV which breaks for comercials every ten minutes at most (usally every 7), the amount of time most kids today spend watching TV, the amount of sugar and soda most kids get, and a host of other factors it's no wonder attention spans are down and nearly every child is diagnosed with ADD, I've met a few people who should be on medication to control ADD or ADHD, very few, and most people that get put on it are simply normal kids, being kids.

[Chewbacca]

Them poor pharmacutical executives needed to get paid.

[quietman1920]

They tried to say my son was ADD. We ran him through a battery of tests...and with the exception of one, he was well above average score. But we got a good doctor. her prescription? Some tutoring.

My son goes to a tutor twice a week now and in less than a year, he's Honor Roll (full house: Aces over betas). Now what this tells me is that these mandated teaching scripts from Washington (The chicago system) DON'T Work. They make you memorize lists, but They Don't Teach You To Read. There are ZERO phonics anymore.

Oh, and by the way, I took a little pole at his cubscout troop and more than half the kids are in external tutoring programs now....

[Timber Loftis]

Let's be realistic about why this is done. If you could drug and sedate the majority of the people you work with everyday, wouldn't you?

[Seraph]

And, in extreme cases, these drugs actually caused or contributed to the kind of mass murders like we saw in Columbine where the two high school students picked up assault rifles, went to school, and blew away teachers and classmates. These two kids were on antidepressant drugs -- it's still one of the most censored stories of the last decade.

The fact that those kids were on antidepressant drugs, and went on a shooting rampage does not mean that the drugs contributed to the rampage.
The fact that event b follow event a does not mean event b caused event a.

[Azred]

The psychoactive medications are a factor in school shootings. There is no way to deny this fact.

When I went to school these medications were not available and school shootings did not happen. Today those medications are available and shootings are happening. Since kids today behave (in general) no differently than they did 25 years ago vis-a-vis taunting, peer pressure, etc. then the only remaining variable is medication.

[Seraph]

the only remaining variable is medication.

?
So you think:
1) Parenting techniques from the last 20 years or so are the same as parenting styles from the 1960's?
2) Disiplanary techniques now are the same as they were in 1980?
3) The "unthinkability" of a school shooting is the same as it was in 1980?
4) The techniques schools use to teach is the same as it was in 1980?
5) What a typical kid is exposed to is the same as it was in 1980?

In just the years I was in school and paying attention I saw dramatic swings in 2, 3, and 4.
The amount that my school was willing to punish trouble makers went down dramatically due to two factors, pissed off parents, and various laws.
The ways schools function in general also seems to be changing. In the late 90's New York started switching from a tiered system (eg higher tiers for smarter students) to a one-size-fits-all system.
The fact that there has been a well publicized school shooting is likely to increase the odds of a second one. People tend to be much more willing/able to do something if they know it has been done before. This can be observed in every day trivialities (eg. the four minute mile). It's just the way that people think.