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Too Much RitalinBy Patti Johnson The Ritalin phenomenon caught my attention in 1994.As I walked with some children in a parade, one six-year-old boy intrigued me. He was precocious, energetic and a delightful companion. When I dropped him off at his home, I mentioned these traits to his mother. She startled me when she replied, “ That’s not what his teacher says. She told me he has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and needs to be put on Ritalin.” I urged the mother to have her son tested before drugging him. He was so bright, and his level of energy seemed normal for a little boy. What if he just needed a more challenging curriculum or a different learning environment? Now that I know much more about Ritalin, I feel even more strongly that all options should be explored before resorting to Ritalin. In 1991, the federal Department of Education said schools could get hundreds of dollars in special education grant money each year for every child diagnosed with ADHD. Since then ADHD diagnosis shot up an average of 21% a year. These data suggest a link between money and Ritilan use. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. buys and uses 90% of the world’s supply of Ritalin. Approximately 4 million U.S. children are on Ritalin. Ten to 12% of U.S. boys are being treated with Ritalin. No other nation is following our example. In fact, Sweden banned methylphenidate (Ritalin) in 1968 after reports of widespread abuse. Ritalin is highly sought after by the drug-abusing population. According to Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), the skyrocketing use of Ritalin represents the greatest increase in drugs associated with abuse, and causes the highest number of suicides and emergency room admissions. Ritalin is classified as a schedule II, or most addictive drug, on par with cocaine, morphine, PCP and metamphetamines. The DEA has noted serious complications associated with Ritalin, including suicide, psychotic episodes and violent behavior. According to Washington Times [Insight magazine], “the common link in the recent phenomenon of high school shootings may be psychotropic drugs like Ritalin.” The International Journal of Addictions lists over 100 adverse reactions to Ritalin—paranoid psychosis, terror and paranoid delusions among them. Ritalin can have other serious side effects including disorientation of the central nervous system. It is an amphetamine, capable of inducing sudden cardiac arrest and death. Twelve year old Stephanie Hall of Canton, Ohio died the day after her Ritalin dose was increased. The medical community has expressed alarm over the widespread use of psychotropic drugs for children. Dr. Fred Baughman Jr., pediatric neurologist, said of psychiatrists, “They have proven several times over that chronic Ritalin/amphetamine exposure they advocate for millions of children causes brain atrophy (shrinkage).” The National Institute of Health (NIH) reported, “We do not have an independent valid test for ADHD, and there are no data to indicate that ADHD is due to brain malfunction. Further research to establish the validity of the disorder continues to be a problem.” The NIH also reported that Ritalin and other stimulant drugs result in “little improvement in academic or social skills,” and they recommend research into alternatives such as change in diet or biofeedback. If we care about children’s health, we owe it to them to explore healthful ways to improve their classroom performance and deportment. I would start with an observation: In the 1950s we did not have millions of children unable to concentrate in the classroom. What has changed? First, the classroom climate. The traditional classroom was expected to be a quiet, well-ordered environment. Desks were arranged so that all students could make eye contact with the teacher, see the demonstrations and read instructions. Students were not permitted to distract or disrupt others. The teacher was presumed to know more than the children, and so gave direct, group instruction, guiding students step by step in learning new skills, modeling standard English grammar and syntax in the process. Elementary students had a short morning recess, a half-hour recess after lunch and a short afternoon recess. Progressive educators undermined this approach. Desks are arranged in groups. Students cannot see the teacher and so students distract one another. The failed “Whole Language” method has replaced phonics. Children are passed on to the next grade without learning to read. Discipline is sometimes lax and supervision is casual. Some schools have abolished recess altogether. When adults are faced with tasks such as balancing the checkbook or figuring our income tax, we tend to seek out a quiet place where we “can hear ourselves think.” Children are more sensitive to stimuli than adults, more easily distracted. Insisting that they fend for themselves in a noisy, chaotic, confusing, classroom can do them a disservice. Many of those children go home to empty houses where they watch television and snack on chemically-altered, heavily-sugared, artificially- flavored junk food. Wouldn’t it make sense to provide more attention, more supervision, more exercise, and more nutritious foods before prescribing potentially harmful psychotropic drugs to render children compliant? It is not my intention to judge parents, counselors, and doctors, or to dismiss the genuinely hard cases. My only motivation is to provide information that could help schools and parents make sound decisions about the health and welfare of their children. Patti Johnson represents the Second Congressional District on the Colorado State Board of Education For more on this subject, see "Why Ritalin Rules," by the Heritage Foundation's Mary Eberstadt. This op-ed generated more response than any other 1999 Independence Institute op-ed. While most of the responses agreed with Patti Johnson, there were some critical responses. The best of these was written by Barb Day, who (at the request of the Independence Institute) wrote a thoughtful counterpoint. To read Ms. Day's analysis, click here. This
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