Ritalin Ripple Effect

2012-02-14T18:39:30+00:00

Just fyi - every ADHD appointment I have ever been in for medical school has been almost exclusively the parents demanding the medication.

cercer · 2012-02-14T15:13:13+00:00

I know it is commonly understood that contemporary schools disfavor boys vis-a-vis girls by mandating that kids sit quietly and pay attention. But back in the day -- before girls were even allowed the same educational opportunities as boys, and classrooms were almost all male -- was more rambunctiousness really tolerated? When I imagine old-school classrooms, I imagine much less touchy-feely emphasis on "hands-on" learning and "different learning styles" -- instead, I envision kids being told to sit down, shut up, write out their Latin conjugations and expect a whipping/paddling if they talk back or disobey. Would this environment really be more male-friendly than this one?

2012-02-14T17:32:41+00:00

It's ironic.

We want the kids to sit still to learn reading and math in kindergarten. Boys are not wired to do that, so we dope them up so they cooperate.

The drug acts upon one of the motivational centers of the brain, the nucleus accumbens, doing extensive damage over the months and years. Even small doses have been shown to do permanent damage. These "hyperactive" boys on Ritalin grow up to be... quite often... unmotivated zombies.

Then society complains that many men are stuck in an "emerging adulthood" where they have no drive or ambition to do anything.

-shakes head-

curious67 · 2012-02-14T09:49:32+00:00

Drugging boys into conformity. Into conformity with unnatural quiet sit-still school life. Aggravated by the feminzation (sp?) of school.

Pharmacological control of men from earliest age. Please upvote!

The article does not even mention the serious long term side effects.

Teenagers consider Ritalin a safe drug to try out because it is widely prescribed to classmates and siblings. So they experiment and soon find out that it feels good and acts just like an amphetamine and, therefore, can be abused like an amphetamine with the same harmful side and after effects. The media has reported that Ritalin is now exchanged at school playgrounds for money, and it has become known as a form of "kiddie cocaine." The Jewish World Herald has issued a plea to "Stop the Ritalin Racketeers." Another publication states that Ritalin is used to sedate active young boys, and that psychologists and psychiatrists suggest that Tom Sawyer and his buddy Huckleberry Finn would, today, be prime candidates for the Ritalin treatment (think what we would have missed).

Misuse or abuse over-prescription of Ritalin is widespread. Literature supporting that claim abounds. In some communities the rates of Ritalin usage by school children has reached the scandalous figure of 20%, while in another community the rate may be less than 3%. Such a variation in usage rate, alone, makes the validity of the drug's application suspect and indicates gross misuse and abuse as well as lack of good judgement on the part of physicians.

Perhaps, the most alarming statistic is the fact that Ritalin is prescribed far more frequently for boys than it is for girls. According to one study, three to four times more boys than girls take the drug under doctors' orders. Does that mean ADD and other learning disabilities for which Ritalin is a "cure" are predominantly boy problems? Indications are that some other factors influence the discrepancy. In the politically correct society of today, boys are no longer allowed to be boys. Their unpolished boyish behaviour must be tempered, their restlessness must be calmed, and their attentiveness to the teacher must be enhanced. And if boys have a problem with this modified atypical "un-boyish" behaviour, we have Ritalin to help them conform.

Today, an overwhelming majority of grade-school teachers are women. Schools no longer have male role models for the boys, and churlish boy-type behaviour is no longer understood or tolerated. It is now seen as symptomatic of a violent personality or labeled as a learning disability in need of Ritalin treatment.

he_cried_out_WTF · 2012-02-15T12:56:35+00:00

If you take a child that is full to bursting with energy, then remove some of their only outlets of activity like recess, you can be damn sure that's going to have an effect in the classroom. They are going to be fidgety and antsy as shit.

That doesn't mean that they have a learning disorder. They are simply doing what boys do.

If boys are getting anxious and antsy in the classroom, don't pin it on the boy. Take a look at the greater cause.

2012-02-14T17:06:12+00:00

damn, is it true that 6 million kids are prescribed to adderall or ritalin in the US?

Title	Ritalin Ripple Effect
Author	thetrollking
Upvotes	15
Comments	12
Date	February 14, 2012 8:33 AM UTC (14 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/povlv/ritalin_ripple_effect/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/ritalin-ripple-effect.1027700 https://theredarchive.com/post/1027700

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