Could a men's right's advocate propose an answer to this?

Question

Since drugs like Ritalin and Adarol are allegedly turning boys into zombies and affecting their scholastic performance; what do you propose parents and educators do in dealing with boys with hyperactivity or ADHD?

Answer 1

ADHD comes from jamming these kids into desks for 8 hours a day and expecting them to remain quiet and still.

Boys need to run. They need to compete. They need to lose and win and keep trying.

Current school systems are not designed to encourage competition. They do not encourage physical activity. They do not encourage linear problem-solving.

When a boy reacts badly to this (and who could blame him) they invent this "disorder" and give him narcotics to soothe and subdue him.

Mark my words, we're all going to look back at history and wonder "How could parents have drugged their children and got away with it?"

Answer 2

Parents should feed children a healthy diet. We live in a society that promotes instant gratification so people want to fix all their problems with a pill instead of looking for the root cause and obvious solution.  Why is this question specific to men, am I missing something?

Answer 3

its the parents fault. feminism is responsible fpor disruption of families.

deal with the source.

Answer 4

Its all connected to feminism IMO, the high divorce rate and or both parents working produces more troubled children. A feminised education system denies boys natural behaviour and lacks strong male teachers to provide discipline

So the female teachers recommend drugging the poor lads.

I don't believe that feminists should be involved in education, social services, law or government.

Answer 5

Separate the genders at school.  Less distraction and it will allow the male's natural competitive nature (which is a needed thing for society) to flourish.  Educators (meaning liberals) try to curtail male instincts through methods such as shaming their aggression and promoting c**p like sharing and inclusion.

Answer 6

First off, ensure that diagnosis of ADHD is accurate.

ADHD is beloved of the parents and teachers of disruptive and under performing children, because it ceases to be a parental problem or an educational problem.

There is no clinical diagnosis, you cannot perform a chemical test on a child to establish that it has ADHD.  A child suspected of suffering is given a written test, typically 20 or 30 questions such as "do you have difficulty concentrating?" which it completes, and depending on the responses a diagnosis is given.

Depending which country you live in, the child is given a program of treatment which may comprise of anything from exercise breaks to Ritalin or Dexamphetamine.

The ways treatments help someone genuinely suffering from ADHD is very different from how they affect someone who has been diagnosed ADHD but does not in fact suffer from it.

My partner who I have lived with for 8 years now has adult ADD, and is prescribed dexamphetamine.  She is an RN, and previously worked as an economic analyst before her ADD was diagnosed.  She the diagnosis has made life a whole heap easier for her.  She wasn't underachieving before she was diagnosed, and she is certainly no zombie now.

I do fear that kids in schools are far too easily labeled as suffering from a disorder of convenience, and inappropriately medicated.  The way to deal with ADHD is first of all to make sure that you ARE dealing with ADHD, and secondly, use pharmacological solutions as a last resort, not a first resort.

There is strong evidence to suggest that ADHD is underdiagnosed in girls because they will tend to withdraw and underachieve, which is mistaken for a lack of intelligence.  Boys suffering ADHD will tend towards being disruptive which is picked up on very fast.

Answer 7

Boys whose behavior requires these drugs have been jeopardizing their scholastic performance prior to being medicated which is the justification for putting them on meds in the first place.  Turning them into 'zombies' gives everyone in the class a chance to learn - including them.

Answer 8

Discipline and special Ed seemed to work just as well if not better prior to the over diagnosis and over medication of a behavior problem.

I'd say behavior modification is a better option than drugging them.

If girls are overly sensitive or emotional should they be drugged too ?

Answer 9

Perhaps you should address this question to a board-certified child & adolescent psychiatrist with expertise in the treatment of these disorders rather than a "men's rights" advocate (and ideally learn the proper spelling of pharmaceuticals you're inquiring about so that it decreases the ambiguity of your question).

Answer 10

I don't consider myself a men's rights advocate, but do agree with many of their ideas.  I do not have children, and never will have any.

ADD or ADHD became an issue to the general public around 1980 when it first appeared in the DSM-III.

I have a pet name for ADD, Another Dumb Diagnosis.

The idea that boys (or girls) have an illness called ADD or ADHD is a fairly new idea.

When I was in school it did not exist, but there were hyperactive and just plain wacky kids. Kids have underdeveloped brains so I think it safe to assume they are going to act inappropriately some times, it's called learning.  They were not considered sick, requiring medication, just more intensive attention.

I propose that instead of medicating the kids, actually DEAL with them.  It is more work, but it was successful for ..... centuries.

Then again, if medication will make them shut up in the movie theater, I may want reassess my position on this.

By teaching a kid, you need this pill to do well in school, might that also teach them that they need pills and thus setting them up for a lifetime of seeking medication.

As always I could be wrong, but we will see in few years when all the ritalin kids start becoming adults.

Answer 11

I think there is no clear cut solution, for some individuals the medication gives a person the control to study hard, and other it lowers their energy drastically. In some strange why I think students are surfacing with these mental statuses so we may better learn how to modify our educational system. Think about it for hundreds of years we have learned by sitting for hours, I know there are times I wish I could have moved or did something active, wahlah ADHD. I think parents and educators should reduce actual study time for these kids into small segments, not 8 hour days. At the same time kids with ADHD make me laugh because they say they can't focus in school, but put them in front of a video game and all eyes are on a screen, so take that for what it is. Sadly, I do not think there is a clear cut solution, or at least not one that can be implemented without crossing some ethical lines.

Answer 12

A good start would be to bring back Physical Education and stop cutting school sports programs. Boys need to release more physical energy instead of giving them speed that out-speeds their minds. Boys in private boy's school do far better because they're made to jog, swim, and play sports. Boys and girls are just different and it's sexist and wrong to believe otherwise.

Answer 13

I find it interesting that so many people claim that Ritalin and Adderall turn boys into zombies and harm their performance. It is simply not true. Both of them are amphetamine derivative medications that act as mild CNS stimulants, and are not mind altering, Many people take stimulants to improve mental concentration and performance, from coffee or chocolate to prescription meds (sometimes illegally and dangerously).

What upsets me is that we now know that girls with ADD are seriously underdiagnosed. But they are not usually disruptive with their behaviour so they are not seen as a problem so they are left to suffer and fall through the cracks.

What can be done for these girls?

Answer 14

I'm not a men's right's advocate, but I will chime in anyway:)

Quite honestly, I think all other options should be exhausted before a kid is put on that type of medication.  Make sure there aren't environmental or dietary reasons, make sure the kid doesn't have any type of developmental problem, check his/her IQ(some smart kids act in a way that is similar to ADHD because they are bored/not challenged), give the kids plenty of time to be outdoors(and not just when they are at home, they should have plenty of recess time), proper discipline, and above all make sure the kid really does have that problem.

Answer 15

My boyfriend was on that stuff when he was younger :( he thinks his mom just gave it to him because he was easier to deal with. He was never super hyper.

I think that they should give kids more outlets between classes. I know it might sound ridiculous but maybe give them breaks have them run a lap or something.

Answer 16

That's a good question

How bout stop labeling every difficult child as having ADHD, and now Asbergers is becoming the new ADHD too.

Also how bout recognizing when a child is acting up and doing poorly because they lack interest and aren't challenged and find a way to correct it that doesn't involve medication

Some more physicaly active classes might help, art music classes, the kind of things that involve more than sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day

Answer 17

Strong parenting.. 2 ADHD Kids. If you get on there butts, and take stuff away.. and tell them they cant do anything else till say homework is done.. They learn real quick to focus and get the task done.. then they are free to play. But it takes extra time with your kids. And americans want the easy way out.. So everyone dopes there kids up.  

Answer 18

These drugs get a bad rap.

My ex-husband was a teacher (primary school). He had a boy in class who was literally psychotic in his ADHD (tantrums that would resort in him biting to draw blood from guidance counselors).

Post-Ritalin, he was a different boy. He was interested, engaged, and could sit and pay attention.

Perhaps they are over-used in some cases, but in many kids (ask the parents of ADHD children), they do an amazing job.

Answer 19

The latest research from the University of Sydney seems to have found the answer.

Answer 20

Why are boys hyperactive? Well, because they are boys and they are young. This has always been normal until recently, until drug companies found they could make a fortune in a society conditioned to hate anything masculine.

Kids, boys and girls, need simple, clear rules, discipline and a structured family life.

What we have today is anything but that and yes, you can look to feminism for finger pointing.

We have fathers being kicked out of their children lives by mothers and their heavy handed allies, the family courts. This destroys the structured family life and usually discipline goes as well.

Parents need to stop trying to be their kids friends and be parents. We, as a society, need to stop treating kids like psychology patients. I am convinced that therapists and the like do more harm than good by promoting victim status. Think about it, ever see a child fall and skin their knee then look to an adult for a response? If the adult shows sympathy the child will begin to cry but if the adult does not show sympathy, the child just goes on playing? This is what the therapist do, they blow things out of proportion that make a victim out of a non-victim.

Stop drugging kids, if they misbehave, spank them. I know that political correctness has told us that spanking is bad and all that, it sells more drugs when kids are uncontrollable and can't be spanked because spanking is bad. Look folks, spanking has worked for thousands of years and it puts out better adults than do the drug companies.

I just laugh when I hear people say...just talk to your kids and explain why what they did was wrong....blah blah blah. Kids don't have the attention span or memory to deal with or remember lectures. Keep the rules simple and you will find that kids will behave better. If you don't want Johnny to throw the XBOX controller....just tell him that. No need to go into the cost of the controller or the damage to the object the controller hits, etc... Just tell him that throwing the controller is not allowed. Keep the rules simple and easy to remember.

Finally, little girls are also being drugged too and we can't just pretend they don't. It seems that almost every woman I know is on some sort of anti-depressant and most were put on those drugs as kids or teenagers going through normal growing up problems.

If, however, you believe that all these women really are depressed...ask yourself why we live in a time when most of the female population must be drugged to be happy. Feminism might be worth a hard look. Is it possible that little girls need a father too?

Answer 21

Men have rights?  Well, even so, this is a medical issue, and ought to be decided by medical criteria.  There are degrees of ADHD. The less extreme cases can be treated through training rather than drugs.  Last time I looked into this (when I was dating a woman with an ADHD son), there was a large, national support group from which parents could get practical advice.

Answer 22

Parents should be parents and not try to control their children's behavior with drugs.  

Answer 23

I think we could acknowledge that not not all boyish behavior is hyperactive.  

They should be give proper outlets for their pent up energy.

They can treat boys as boys and not as if there is something inherently wrong with them.

If teachers can't handle children who behave like children then they shouldn't be teachers.

If people can't tell the difference between bad behavior and childish behavior they shouldn't have children.

Children should be viewed as young human beings and not nuisances.

Parents should take responsibility in disciplining their children.

Answer 24

Boys should be allowed to blow off some steam. Why don't schools allow them more breaks for physical activity? It would help everyone concentrate, without the drugs.

Answer 25

Perhaps we should stop medicating boys for being boys.

Maybe we should put any child that cries in class on anti-depressants?

Answer 26

I'm a feminist and thus also support men's rights. I have a little brother (age 10) who suffers from ADD, the doctors wanted my mom to give him Ritalin. He wasn't doing bad in school and wasn't violent or anything like that. He is a sweet, shy boy. But he is in special class because he couldn't keep up with the rhythm of a average class. He does well in that class and he has an aptitude for math. He could multiply, add, subtract, divide, and all in seconds.

My mom didn't want to give him the Ritalin because it will only slow him down and besides drugging a child seems very excessive to me. He does well in school and is now showing more progress in his learning skills than ever. He does well with the support of his family and teachers which is what doctors also recommend. Children with ADD just need more help and attention than other kids because their brain doesn't respond to new activities so quickly. Drugs would only make it worse and runs the risk of creating a dependency.

Answer 27

You might want to ask this in "Men's Health".

Answer 28

Let them loose. School is not for everyone and many boys (and girls) find it h**l to have to sit for long periods. In many Western countries its very hard to find someone who has an honest trade (plumber, bricklayer etc) because we are all supposed to aspire to university. This is crazy. I have total respect for tradesmen and proper academics and I think we should go back to the system where only the true boffins go to university and the guys who are full of restless energy should be out there working in a hands-on physical way. Otherwise we are putting lots of square pegs in lots of round holes, and nobody is happy.

Edit

There is a debate to be had around the use of Ritalin, but the conclusion is (for me) that it is overused in trying to medicate away human nature.

Ritalin bad: http://school.familyeducation.com/learni...

Ritalin good: http://school.familyeducation.com/learni...

Gender issues & Ritalin http://thegiraffeclub.org/articles/1002....

Answer 29

1, drop the feminist notion that there is no difference between males and females.  That gives educators the idea that they can expect 1st and 2nd grade boys and girls to behave the same.  

News flash: they don't.  Boys WILL be boys, it turns out.

#2, a little discipline goes a long way. Parents need to stop letting the kids call the shots.