Yes

10 of 11

by David Vandenhoek

Write now Print Invite a writer™ Add to Favorites RSS Feed Contact this writer

I also agree that children are being over medicated, and that alot of it has to do with what happens at home. If a child is hyper and thriving for attention.... then the real problem lies at home with the parents, and needs to be dealt with in other ways than medicating them. I was classified as having ADHD when I was a kid, and my parents refused to have me put on medication. Soon after, my parents divorced and I was acting out in every way that I could, from destroying things, to acting out in school, just to get the attention I was deprived from at home. If parents, teachers, and counselors would talk to the children more, and not rely on these medications, then most of these kids would come out of it and be brought back to reality.

This also brings me to the point of drug addiction. Ever single person i knew as a kid that was given medication for their attention deficit disorder, ended up just smoking marijuana as soon as they got the chance, and despite the contrary, it helped many of them. But I also think that marijuana is a gateway drug. I started smoking it when I was 15, and by the age of 18 I was trying anything that I could get my hands on. Including excess amounts of alcohol. Looking back, I think that if my parents would have been a little more involved in my life, I would have never turned to anything other than them.

The FDA also has their hands in these pockets as well. The food and drug administration approves drugs that have severely addicting chemicals, and have led to dependency and abuse in many pain killers and anti-depressants.

I think that a vast majority of the population is convinced that they need to medicate kids and keep them at bay. But this is not the answer. The children that you medicate now, will potentially end up being the drug addicts for decades to come. Talk to your kids, be one with them. Be a positive part of their lives. Sometimes you need to be a friend more than being a parent. Many things that are supposedly helped by medication, can also be helped by music. I believe that music is a huge outlet for many depressed and under appreciated kids, I think that much of it has to do with how much we here in America work and do not have time to talk, play, and relate with our youngsters. Many children that are diagnosed with attention deficit, have unlocked talent that is just yearning to be exposed, and it is up to the adult figures in their lives to expose that talent, not to "subdue" it by medicating them and casting them aside.

Learn more about this author, David Vandenhoek.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.