Attention Disorder or Not, Pills to Help in School - in Cherokee County (Atlanta: elementary schools, income)

[researchnerd]

What a great idea! Instead of improving the school system, let's medicate the kids.

CANTON, Ga. — When Dr. Michael Anderson hears about his low-income patients struggling in elementary school, he usually gives them a taste of some powerful medicine: Adderall.

The pills boost focus and impulse control in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although A.D.H.D is the diagnosis Dr. Anderson makes, he calls the disorder “made up” and “an excuse” to prescribe the pills to treat what he considers the children’s true ill — poor academic performance in inadequate schools.

“I don’t have a whole lot of choice,” said Dr. Anderson, a pediatrician for many poor families in Cherokee County, north of Atlanta. “We’ve decided as a society that it’s too expensive to modify the kid’s environment. So we have to modify the kid.”

Here's the whole article.

[BobKovacs]

Not sure I agree with the "inadequate schools" part at all- Cherokee County has excellent schools. There will always be some kids that are going to perform poorly, no matter what school you put them in- to blame the schools (which is what Dr. Anderson's comment above is doing) is just plain incorrect.

[Iconographer]

PLEASE, someone tell me when it became OK to drug 10% of the school population.

[chalvey]

It is quite scary the school system is actually doing this. They should try ayurvedic medicine.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by chalvey

It is quite scary the school system is actually doing this. They should try ayurvedic medicine.

I don't recall seeing anywhere in the article that said "the school system is doing this"- this is one doctor's solution to perceived "problems"......

[chalvey]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

I don't recall seeing anywhere in the article that said "the school system is doing this"- this is one doctor's solution to perceived "problems"......

True. My apologies, I just had a cursory glance at the article. I believe it is a problem that isn't discussed enough (teens taking medicine). When I was in high school, many of my classmates were on medication. Hence the reason I mentioned ayurvedic medicine.

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Not sure I agree with the "inadequate schools" part at all- Cherokee County has excellent schools. There will always be some kids that are going to perform poorly, no matter what school you put them in- to blame the schools (which is what Dr. Anderson's comment above is doing) is just plain incorrect.

I don't think the point of this article is that some kids perform poorly, it's the expectation of the teachers and administrators (and parents, sometimes) that kids should be medicated so that they perform better, rather than taking the time to teach kids in the various ways in which they learn. I realize that public schools can't teach every kid individually but there are certainly things they can do better.

Cherokee schools are underfunded, like many other (most?) public school systems. Sometimes they truly do the best they can with what they have, but other times, they just try to move the kids through the system with as little energy expended as possible. It's the latter that's the problem, and I saw this firsthand when my son attended schools in Cherokee (12 years).

That said, this article references schools in Cherokee but I don't see any way this problem could be limited to the schools in one county, in one state. I think it's much bigger than that.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

I don't recall seeing anywhere in the article that said "the school system is doing this"- this is one doctor's solution to perceived "problems"......

It wasn't a reference to this article, but to an article I read recently. It cited that percentage, mostly male.
I was also surprised to learn that DeKalb elementary schools have for some time cut recess from their schedule. Is it any wonder they think medication is required?

[GeorgiaLakeSearch]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Not sure I agree with the "inadequate schools" part at all- Cherokee County has excellent schools. There will always be some kids that are going to perform poorly, no matter what school you put them in- to blame the schools (which is what Dr. Anderson's comment above is doing) is just plain incorrect.

Just like how there are also good schools in APS and DeKalb.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

It wasn't a reference to this article, but to an article I read recently. It cited that percentage, mostly male.
I was also surprised to learn that DeKalb elementary schools have for some time cut recess from their schedule. Is it any wonder they think medication is required?

I don't know which schools that would be. My son has recess and he has the grass stains to prove it. He's so energetic I can't imagine what they'd do with him otherwise.