ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200039
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Talking it over
To the editor - I HAD the privilege of attending recently, before the school year ended, an international-day program at my granddaughter's school. I'm always impressed with the teachers, aides and programs at her school. However, as we were getting ready for lunch, an announcement was made for all students needing their ``medication'' to come to the office.
Eight little boys dutifully got up and filed out of the room!
If eight boys are taking Ritalin from that one class, how many more are there in that one rural elementary school? How many young children are taking this drug valleywide?
When the boys returned, I asked one child if his doctor said he needed Ritalin. He said, ``No, my momma did.'' I asked why. He answered, ``Because I fidget and won't sit still.''
The country wasn't built by people who ``sit still'' and don't ``fidget.'' It was built by movers and shakers who never sit still! I wonder how many future farmers, builders, inventors, etc., are spending their formative years in drug-induced apathy.
Perhaps these children's parents should spend their medication money on a track at school, so instead of taking a drug at lunchtime, these children could run off their energy. Also, taking time to work with and teach these children proper behavior and making sure they eat a proper diet is still the responsibility of parents. If this responsibility is given to the medical community, you can bet the drug company that produces Ritalin will continue to thrive.
I grew up in a family with four brothers, two of whom by today's standards would be thought to have attention-deficit disorder. Both are very successful men in their professional and personal lives. Both are highly competent and energetic, and to this day they still ``fidget'' and ``won't sit still.''
- Anne Lester
Our reply - WE SHARE your worry that Ritalin is being overprescribed. With the aid of physicians, some parents are flattening out the natural high spirits of boys - and some girls, too - because it is simpler to hand out pills than to deal with hyperactive behavior.
The use of Ritalin may also be contributing to a drug culture in which pills are seen as answers to problems, and drug abuse - such as the dangerous recreational use of Ritalin - is all too easy.
We also see a danger, however, in generalizing. Some children who might sum up their behavioral problems as "being fidgety" are disruptive to a degree far beyond anything that that simplistic explanation would normally imply.
The fact that frenetic behaviors and distractibility can disrupt others is a problem. The fact that they can make sustained learning or accomplishment difficult or nearly impossible for the kid who suffers from attention-deficit disorder is an even greater problem.
In many cases, Ritalin - along with exercise and other therapies - has dramatically improved young lives and the fulfillment of their potential. That sort of experience is hard to argue with.
- The editors
The last word - I DO not think it is generalizing when eight boys in that one classroom are being given Ritalin. It seems to me the overprescribing of a drug is much more dangerous, and who's to say that the extra attention given the child, along with a proper diet, exercise and the passage of some time, is not what has dramatically improved young lives?
Since I've been given the final word, I must say that I spent the day with these eight boys and believe me, even if they were not too disruptive, they were not participating or paying attention to much of anything.
- A.L.
Anne Lester of Roanoke is co-owner of a small business.
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