Ritalin
...States get a dose of Ritalin. It has been known for years the drug improves symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Children with ADHD are overactive, impulsive, and unable to pay attention for more than a few minutes. Although most children act this way some of the time, children with true ADHD act this way most of the time. Concentrating on a project is a project in itself, and kids with ADHD need help to control their impulsive behavior so they can complete a project. While Ritalin helps to reduce over-activity and to increase attention levels, some concern has arisen over the potential harm it may have on children long-term.
A serious and potentially dangerous misunderstanding is that children with ADHD are statistically at no higher risk than "normal" children for alcohol and drug abuse as teenagers and adults. This is not true, and it is another reason why treatment for ADHD is so important. Recently, adults who were using Ritalin throughout their childhood have begun talking about their experience growing up with Ritalin. They describe how they became so use to taking their pill that they developed an addiction as they became adults. Now, they feel a need to take something, whether it's Ritalin or any other drug. Instead of helping, Ritalin ultimately created a problem, which harmed them far more than the drugs helped them. I think that giving a child a pill to make him or her calm down could possibly be alright if the results are known. Letting children rely on this drug as if they needed it to survive creates a problem in that it causes them to develop a potentially destructive habit. I don't agree with giving two year olds Ritalin to make them calm down because they're too young, but it's not much better giving fifteen year olds Ritalin when they learn to depend on it day to day.
Ritalin is said to help the...
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