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Words are powerful - Thoughts shape - Ideas have consequences

Rhonda Robinson

Journalist, Illinois Leader
Posted January 17, 2004

They found the cure!
...For Childishness

The unseasonably cool weather, coupled with "back to school" signs, makes me feel like the summer is all but over, and the school bus should be rolling by any day now.

The first day of school is such an exciting time for a child. If your
little guy is especially active, you probably have mixed emotions about him going to school. Glad to see him grow big, but perhaps apprehensive of how he will do once he gets there.

It seems that all too often the brightest and most active kids have a hard time settling into a classroom environment. If you have a child who is very active, before you send him off on that big yellow bus, there are a few things you should know.

First you need to understand that there is a rapidly growing trend to modify behavior, chemically.

It seems that for every natural childish behavior, there is now a disorder and medication to match. Since the invention of ADD and ADHD, we now have Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Impulse Control or Intermittent Explosive Disorder, and Attachment Disorder.

Children as young as two years old are being prescribed psychotropic drugs for these types of "disorders."

According to Dr. John Breeding, director of Texans For Safe Education, "There were 200,000 American children taking stimulant drugs" for behavior modification in 1970.

"Alarmed by this fact, the U.S. Congress convened a special hearing to address the issue, which resulted in the stimulant drugs being classified as Schedule 2 controlled substances because they are highly addictive, and at great risk for abuse."

Breeding recently cited the July 2 Boston Globe report, "...about 11 million schoolchildren and adolescents took prescription drugs for mental health in 2002."

Dr. Breeding has been a friend to parents in Texas, where he organized a grass-roots effort to pass House Bill 1406, which "Was a response to the fact that hundreds of thousands of Texas school children are being placed on psychotropic drugs, mostly at the initiative of teachers and other school employees.

"In committee hearings, parents repeatedly told stories of being pressured by schools to diagnose and drug their children. Two parents shared with legislators the stories of their children's deaths due to psychotropic drugs."

The new Texas law makes it "unlawful for school employees to recommend any psychotropic drug to a parent for their child, or to suggest a diagnosis for the child."

I was unable to find out whether or not we have this type of law, but I did find out a few facts that I hope will help parents make informed decisions for their children.

As I said, Dr. Breeding has been a friend to parents, and he has listed many of the unproven statements on his website, www.wildestcolts.com, that are used to coerce parents into drugging their children.

Doctors and educators tell parents that ADHD " is a brain-based biological disorder, caused by a chemical imbalance in your child's brain."

The truth, according to Breeding, "is that there is absolutely no reliable test that accurately distinguishes between children that are supposed to have ADHD and those that are not."

He goes on to say, "There is no scientific literature that proves the existence of a confirmatory physical or chemical abnormality that validates the existence of ADHD as a medical disease."

In a similar vein, true believers in biological psychiatry tell parents that medication (such as Ritalin) corrects the chemical imbalance. The truth, Breeding writes, is that "There is no
imbalance. All drugs (alleged medications) have a variety of effects. It is vitally important that you personally research the effects of any drug you might consider for your child.

"A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association not only confirmed the similarities of cocaine and Ritalin, but found that Ritalin is more potent than cocaine in its effect on the dopamine system in the brain. Referring to Ritalin as 'kiddy cocaine' is not a joke."

The title of Dr. Breeding's book says it all, "The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses."

Where would we be without strong spirits, and brave souls? I would suppose that John Hancock had Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Thank God we hadn't yet discovered the cure!

© Rhonda Robinson 2004 Reprinted with Permission

Rhonda Robinson, is a central Illinois correspondent for the Illinois Leader, a conservative online news source, and her weekly column Across the Fence also appears in the Regional, giving a frank and sometimes-humorous commentary on the social, political and everyday issues affecting family life. Rhonda is a wife, a home schooling mother of nine and grandmother of six.
Her articles can be read at www.illinoisleader.com www.moultriedouglas.com Contact: Rhonda@illinoisleader.com