Yes, I know, I know. There are more pressing issues out there than some British report on recreational drugs. Like the eight fired US Attorneys (so do they have to relinguish their monkey status, as well?), and John Edwards' wife's cancer has returned (note to Edwards' family: life is short, enjoy it now!), and the tainted pet food (aw rats, I can't believe it's poisoned).
However, in my unconscious ploy to uncover news stories that affect the most people, I think this one takes the keg, er cake. Let's get a show of hands here... how many of you have indulged in alcohol in the past month? The past week? The past day? Okay. You get the point. Most people do enjoy alcohol once in a while.
What if I said that alcohol is more harmful than LSD? Worse than Ecstasy? More horrible than marijuanna? Yup. And so is tobacco. At least according to some British scientists hoping to better classify these recreational drugs according to the harm they cause.
This is just a bit disappointing for me. (Reflects a moment...starts sobbing...) This is impossible. Why would alcohol and tobacco be legal if our government really wants to protect us from such evils? Why didn't they rate them with the other illicit drugs during the "Just Say No" campaign when I was in high school?
Alcohol is bad... no it can't be all that bad. Those experts also say wine and beer are good for my heart. Damn! What's it going to be?? I mean, we can't go around touting everything is harmful, can we?
And what's next? Fast food? Heck, let's just rank legal pharmaceuticals, including vaccines, and see how they fair against the bad boys of the drug world--who's more harmful now? Yeah, I can see it now: Heroine is for wimps, Asprin will eat your insides alive, until you're dead.
Showing posts with label drugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drugs. Show all posts
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Monday, March 20, 2006
Generation Y Less Violent?
Current generation is less violent than previous generation? Really?? Hmmmm...
I read a similar article to the one I am linking to in the March 12th Des Moines Register. Who are they trying to fool? There's still violence.
This is like Tom Brokaw calling the World War II generation the greatest. Although that generation had some good people, Mr. Brokaw's opinion is not to be construed as fact. There were some very terrible things that World War II generation faced. There are terrible things that the current youth are facing. However, I wouldn't call Gen Y the second greatest generation. Maybe Tom Brokaw would.
So, all the violent video games, acceptable drug use/abuse for new fangled ailments like ADHD, the pervaillance of drugs in smaller communities, rave parties, loud boom cars, the total lack of respect for anyone but themselves, and complete disregard to authority makes them less violent?
How about this: Police are more willing to tolerate this generation's reckless (and feckless) behavior because they don't want to deal with them and their attitudes. This generation has gotten away with more crime than my terrible Gen X ever could. We see this Gen Y, or Millennials, as they apparently prefer to be named, talking back to police officers and other citizens on our small towns streets consistently. We speak to the police officers who would prefer not to bother them when they are fighting at the quicky mart down the street because they don't want to deal with them. The police ignore the drug trading that is going on right at the courthouse square and across from the middle school, as if the brown bag that is passed is just filled with peanut butter sandwiches and an apple. This is a generation that feels entitled, and desires to be spoon-fed, lest they have to ever think on their own. And if you force them to think on their own, well, then you're not being fair.
And this: The more we make children nice, obedient robots, the less apt to deal with rebelious issues. Right? Well, instead of finding a cause for a child's inability to focus when we want them to pay attention, let's just drug them. That's what we've done to the Millenials. Approximately 8.8 million children each year are prescribed with stimulant medication to treat ADHD. It's become the miracle pill, or has it? How safe is it? Does it really help the child, or is it just to keep the sanity of the teacher, or parent, who can't deal with certain children? What underlying conditions is such a drug like Ritalin covering, especially for those children misdiagnosed in their early years? How have we in effect doomed these young children for the rest of their lives with the label ADD/ADHD and forcing them to take a pill that in the 70s and 80s would be classified as an illegal drug for kids (remember speed, uppers)? Is the current thought of less violent kids a direct result of the legal drugging up of our children? Is this all a part of the dumbing down of America?
Is this why children in the US are more inclined now more than ever before, to be overweight? Are our children so complacent with ADHD drugs that they don't have the energy or ability to play on their own without some guidance (by teachers or drugs)?
Can ADD/ADHD and other distracting behaviors be overcome without the use of drugs? Yes. And Yes. But that would take some effort on the part of teachers, school administrators and parents. They'd have to take an active interest in our children and truly help them. Work with the environment kids are in to avoid distracting objects, and becoming an example of behavior that is expected of them. That takes brain power and human relations power, that apparently schools don't want to be forced to use.
I read a similar article to the one I am linking to in the March 12th Des Moines Register. Who are they trying to fool? There's still violence.
This is like Tom Brokaw calling the World War II generation the greatest. Although that generation had some good people, Mr. Brokaw's opinion is not to be construed as fact. There were some very terrible things that World War II generation faced. There are terrible things that the current youth are facing. However, I wouldn't call Gen Y the second greatest generation. Maybe Tom Brokaw would.
So, all the violent video games, acceptable drug use/abuse for new fangled ailments like ADHD, the pervaillance of drugs in smaller communities, rave parties, loud boom cars, the total lack of respect for anyone but themselves, and complete disregard to authority makes them less violent?
How about this: Police are more willing to tolerate this generation's reckless (and feckless) behavior because they don't want to deal with them and their attitudes. This generation has gotten away with more crime than my terrible Gen X ever could. We see this Gen Y, or Millennials, as they apparently prefer to be named, talking back to police officers and other citizens on our small towns streets consistently. We speak to the police officers who would prefer not to bother them when they are fighting at the quicky mart down the street because they don't want to deal with them. The police ignore the drug trading that is going on right at the courthouse square and across from the middle school, as if the brown bag that is passed is just filled with peanut butter sandwiches and an apple. This is a generation that feels entitled, and desires to be spoon-fed, lest they have to ever think on their own. And if you force them to think on their own, well, then you're not being fair.
And this: The more we make children nice, obedient robots, the less apt to deal with rebelious issues. Right? Well, instead of finding a cause for a child's inability to focus when we want them to pay attention, let's just drug them. That's what we've done to the Millenials. Approximately 8.8 million children each year are prescribed with stimulant medication to treat ADHD. It's become the miracle pill, or has it? How safe is it? Does it really help the child, or is it just to keep the sanity of the teacher, or parent, who can't deal with certain children? What underlying conditions is such a drug like Ritalin covering, especially for those children misdiagnosed in their early years? How have we in effect doomed these young children for the rest of their lives with the label ADD/ADHD and forcing them to take a pill that in the 70s and 80s would be classified as an illegal drug for kids (remember speed, uppers)? Is the current thought of less violent kids a direct result of the legal drugging up of our children? Is this all a part of the dumbing down of America?
Is this why children in the US are more inclined now more than ever before, to be overweight? Are our children so complacent with ADHD drugs that they don't have the energy or ability to play on their own without some guidance (by teachers or drugs)?
Can ADD/ADHD and other distracting behaviors be overcome without the use of drugs? Yes. And Yes. But that would take some effort on the part of teachers, school administrators and parents. They'd have to take an active interest in our children and truly help them. Work with the environment kids are in to avoid distracting objects, and becoming an example of behavior that is expected of them. That takes brain power and human relations power, that apparently schools don't want to be forced to use.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Your Child Taking Drugs ... for ADHD?
If you have a child that has any indication of cardiovascular or heart issues, and he/she is on drugs for behavioral issues, you may want to speak with your doctor and get them off the drug as soon as possible. You may just want to speak with a doctor or psychologist anyway if your child is taking or has been suggested to take drugs to ward off ADD or ADHD.
Even though the drug companies say their ADHD drugs are safe, sometimes they may not have researched every possible complication or effect of their drug.
In this case, ADHD drugs like ritalin can have a negative effect on the cardiovascular system, leading to heart arrhythmia, strokes, heart attacks, and death. Wonderful, huh?
Now the rant: Teachers are selfish imps that should be stripped of their teaching licenses if they demand your child take drugs for behavioral issues, without a thorough psychological evaluation with a competent psychologist and medical doctor. There are many other physical and mental issues that could be the underlying issue for your child's behavior, and treating the symptoms with drugs instead of researching the underlying causes may do more damage than good.
The teacher needs to be able to establish rapport with her students, be able to control child who are unruly, and work with children who need additional guidance. There's a significant amount of work entailed in such teaching endeavors, so thank goodness they get summers off, they deserve it.
When I went to school, doing drugs were bad, and the government spent a significant amount of money to keep kids from doing drugs (remember Nancy Reagan's Just Say No campaign?). Now, an ever increasing amount of kids are forced to do drugs by schools. And these aren't just another type of Tylenol, these are major drugs! Say no to cocaine, but here's some Ritalin (which has very similar components and affects the same areas in the brain).
What's the message here?
(In child behavioral cases where drugs were the first resort...do I really need to preface this? Oh, yeah, the same people I am talking about here get terribly offended, too. Good grief.) Teachers are lazy, parents are ignorant, and society will suffer because we are drugging our kids. This is the new drug revolution and if it continues, we are doomed.
Is legislation needed to make sure teachers and parents are assessing our children that show signs of behavioral issues with the appropriate psychological and medical evaluations, and using non-drug treatments as the first resort, exhausting all non-drug measures, before falling back on what ought to be the last resort: drugs? Maybe. This is our future we are talking about.
Even though the drug companies say their ADHD drugs are safe, sometimes they may not have researched every possible complication or effect of their drug.
In this case, ADHD drugs like ritalin can have a negative effect on the cardiovascular system, leading to heart arrhythmia, strokes, heart attacks, and death. Wonderful, huh?
Now the rant: Teachers are selfish imps that should be stripped of their teaching licenses if they demand your child take drugs for behavioral issues, without a thorough psychological evaluation with a competent psychologist and medical doctor. There are many other physical and mental issues that could be the underlying issue for your child's behavior, and treating the symptoms with drugs instead of researching the underlying causes may do more damage than good.
The teacher needs to be able to establish rapport with her students, be able to control child who are unruly, and work with children who need additional guidance. There's a significant amount of work entailed in such teaching endeavors, so thank goodness they get summers off, they deserve it.
When I went to school, doing drugs were bad, and the government spent a significant amount of money to keep kids from doing drugs (remember Nancy Reagan's Just Say No campaign?). Now, an ever increasing amount of kids are forced to do drugs by schools. And these aren't just another type of Tylenol, these are major drugs! Say no to cocaine, but here's some Ritalin (which has very similar components and affects the same areas in the brain).
What's the message here?
(In child behavioral cases where drugs were the first resort...do I really need to preface this? Oh, yeah, the same people I am talking about here get terribly offended, too. Good grief.) Teachers are lazy, parents are ignorant, and society will suffer because we are drugging our kids. This is the new drug revolution and if it continues, we are doomed.
Is legislation needed to make sure teachers and parents are assessing our children that show signs of behavioral issues with the appropriate psychological and medical evaluations, and using non-drug treatments as the first resort, exhausting all non-drug measures, before falling back on what ought to be the last resort: drugs? Maybe. This is our future we are talking about.
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