Wednesday, April 2, 2014

What an Awful Drug Pushing Country the US has Become

In the past decade Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has nearly doubled. One in five American boys receives a diagnosis by age 17. More than 7 out of 10 of those who are diagnosed are prescribed drugs. The little known fact to parents is that ADHD is an opinion. There isn’t any scientific data that backs up this diagnosis. So your kid doesn't do well in math or English, get a tutor but not a drug. Come on parents!!
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a new book, "The ADHD Explosion" by Stephen Hinshaw and Richard Scheffler, it looks at this extraordinary increase. What's the explanation? Some rise in environmental toxins? Worse parenting?

What the article goes onto state based on the book is that they tracked State new education policies with the increase in ADHD diagnosis. There has been a push to get better test scores across the US. This is also an evaluation of teachers. Yet you can’t terminate a teacher if students get bad test scores.
What Dr. Hinshaw and Scheffler found is that there is a direct correlation with these new States demand for higher test scores and ADHD diagnosis. They also found this increase in ADHD diagnosis was more apparent for poor children in public schools. The author’s research shows as schools are motivated to get better scores they suggest medication or excluded those students test scores who they suggested were ADHD candidates.
What this means to us is that if the school needs a better accreditation or a teacher wants a bonus then your child needs a drug. So it is as always up to parents to know and address this as we are talking about your child. Parents are allowing teachers and educators to steer them to drug their kids. Parents are not doing the research to protect their child from drug pushers and self interested educators. Also, teachers are not teaching. If a student is having a more difficult time on courses they are suggesting a drug instead of more review, tutoring, and after school programs. Ultimately it is up to the parents to decide.

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