Grades and Ritalin

Can a pill make students smarter?

© Barbara Pytel

active children and ADHD, pics 4 learning

Pediatricians are seeing more and more parents request Ritalin or other stimulant medications for their children when there is no ADHD or ADD. They want better grades.

Self-Diagnosis is Dangerous

Most caring and concerned parents want their children to perform to their best ability in school. The pressure of getting into good schools is a reality. When top students begin to have grades slip in middle school, some parents begin looking for a pill that will fix the problem. They are sure their child has ADD/ADHD.

The Middle School Brain

Students in middle school are going through tremendous changes. Brain development is sporatic at best. Boys seem to develop later than girls and this leaves boys lagging behind girls. The symptoms that are normal for middle school age children may be quite similar to ADD or ADHD. Parents are going to doctors asking for Ritalin or other medications to assist the brain in working better.

While many would dismiss this as poor parenting, there is something to medications making the mind sharper. There was a scandal a few years ago where doctors were prescribing Ritalin to their own children prior to taking the ACT or SAT tests. The medication did indeed make the test-takers somewhat sharper. And, the medication Wellbutrin XL has a side-effect of helping students stay more alert in school.

Side-Effects

All medications have side-effects and stimulant medications are no different. When parents learn that their child does have ADD or ADHD, it is a difficult decision to place them on medication or not. These medications have been found to have multiple side-effects: blurry vision, nausea, dizziness, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, irritability, stomachaches, headaches, drowsiness, tics, tremors, growth delays hallucinations, and even psychotic behavior. Placing a child on a stimulant medication is a difficult decision hoping that the benefits will be greater than the side-effects. In many cases that is the case.

Other Reasons for ADD Behaviors

When children can not focus in school, there could be other reasons.

While ADD/ADHD behaviors may be common, this does not always result in an official ADD/ADHD diagnosis. Let's not attempt to fix everything with a pill.

Read previous articles on Educational Issues.

Copyright article 2006 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.


The copyright of the article Grades and Ritalin in Educational Issues is owned by Barbara Pytel. Permission to republish Grades and Ritalin must be granted by the author in writing.


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