An interesting editorial from the Cincinnati Enquirer today (which may not be my hometown newspaper much longer...)on the medicating of our children to achieve perfect behavior.
A recent report from Medco, cited in the Enquirer:
>>>showed a 23 percent increase in use of behavioral medication for all children, including a 49 percent increase in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder drugs by children under 5. Now Americans spend more on drugs for ADHD and depression than they do on antibiotics, or asthma or allergy medications for children.<<<
This raises questions more questions. Why do we seek to medicate our children into submission? The report suggests the increased use because it is so effective. I have no doubt that dulling their senses slows them down, but I have a few other scenarios...
1) Our society spends so much time acquiring and consuming, we have little time for parenting. Both parents work to buy bigger houses, bigger SUVs and spend lots of money on kids in lieu of spending lots of TIME with them. This leaves parents woefully unequipped to deal with their children consistently, so it is easier to dope them up.
2) People are having children much later and as such have less energy to deal with rambunctious kids. I know that personally, since when we had our oldest child I was in college and 22 years old. I had a LOT more energy than I do with number 6 at 32 years of age.
3) Everyone seems to want the model child, perfectly behaved, active in a thousand activities, etc. While I insist that my children are polite and well mannered, I also recognize that 3 and 5 year old boys are wrecking machines so you have to take the good with the bad.
Are children today more prone to ADHD then they were 20, 30, 50 years ago? I doubt it. Perhaps it has more to do with all the sugar they eat and all the TV/video games they watch. As a child I barely watched TV, because there was nothing TO watch. PBS had some kids shows in the morning, but they were more educational and slower paced. You would never mistake Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street with Yu-Gi-Oh, Teen Titans or Rugrats.
Before you fill your kids with drugs to sedate them, try unplugging the TV. Or better yet, try to actually parent them rather than numb them.
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