>>Jos,
>>
>>Since a lot of Ritalin starts in public (i.e. lower grades), the "productive member of society" actually means not upsetting 'order' in THAT CLASSROOM.
>>I suppose I would have been prescribed the stuff had I been in school when it started. While I may have got on some teachers' nerves, I survived, the students survived and the teachers survived and all was reasonable when all was said and done.
>
>I agree that Ritalin and other ADD drugs are over-prescribed. However, I also know that they're lifesavers for some kids.
>
>ADD is real. It has an impact on people's lives that prevents them from fulfilling their potential. Rather than declaring ritalin and other drugs bad across the board, let's focus on getting good diagnostic guidelines so that those who will benefit get the drug and those who simply need some discipline get that.
>
>Let's also point out that one disruptive student in a classroom can mean that a class full of kids lose out.

But there's disruptive and then there's disruptive.
I was disruptive (and a few others, by the way) but the teachers managed to get us ALL taught what we needed to know regardless!
I still remember my first day in Grade 9, when the home-room teacher looked me straight in the eye and said: "Jimmy Nelson. Yes, and you look just like him too. Don't go thinking you're going to get away with what your father got away with!".

Disruptive in the sense of wandering around in class, kicking/pulling hair/spitting on other kids, suddenly yelling or crying, sure that's disruptive.
But doling out ritalin because a kid whispers to others or clowns around a bit or asks silly questions or pea-shoots a few other kids or is generally listless in his seat is not appropriate.
The stuff is used to produce full compliance in YOUNG students. I'd like to know how any kid on the stuff can learn to think for himself or critically.

"Productive member of society" - at age 8-10? puhleeeze! Compliant member of society, sure. Is that what we want for kids that might step out of line? Not this guy!!!

I do agree that it may have utility somewhere. School is just about the last place though, in my eyes.
>
>Tamar