Cover Story by Alfie Kohn
	Atrocious Advice from "Supernanny"
	Behaviorism is as American as rewarding children with apple pie… but for how long does it work, and at what cost?
	Harry & Rosemary Wong: Effective Teaching
	Eight Year Summary of Articles, 2000 to 2008
	Columns
»	VisualizationMarvin Marshall
»	Textmapping: Where Old Becomes NewCheryl Sigmon
»	Administrative BroadwayTodd R. Nelson
»	The Busy Educator's Monthly FiveMarjan Glavac
»	Easy Ideas to Wrap up the YearSue Gruber
»	Committees: Make Them More ProductiveHal Portner
»	Helping Children Cope After DisasterLeah Davies
	Articles
»	The Dance of the Honeybee
»	June 2008 Writing Prompts
»	Your School's Mission in a Sound Bite
»	The Medicalizing of Education
»	I Used to Educate Students; Now I Prepare Them… for The Test
»	A Great Model Of Differentiation
»	Live Chat with Adora Svitak
»	Making the Most of Summer To Prepare for the New School Year
	Features
»	Printable Worksheets & Teaching Aids
»	Candles of Inspiration: June 2008
»	Teachers.Net Craft Favorite: Father's Day Project
»	Featured Lessons, Resources and Theme Activities: June 2008
»	Video Bytes: The human cost of war, in song, Literacy centers and more...
»	Today Is... Daily Commemoration for June 2008
»	Live on Teachers.Net: June 2008
»	The Lighter Side of Teaching
»	Apple Seeds: Inspiring Quotes for Teachers
»	What are some things you absolutely DO NOT miss about teaching?
»	How Many Years Did It Take You to Get It Together?
»	Newsdesk: Events & Opportunities for Teachers

The Teachers.Net Gazette is a collaborative project published by the Teachers.Net community Editor in Chief: Kathleen Alape Carpenter Layout Editor: Mary Miehl Cover Story by Alfie Kohn Effective Teaching by Harry & Rosemary Wong Contributors this month: Marvin Marshall,Cheryl Sigmon, Marjan Glavac, Todd R. Nelson, Hal Portner, Leah Davies,Tim Newlin, James Wayne, James Burns, Alan Haskvitz, Bill Page, Barb Stutesman, Ron Victoria, and YENDOR. Submissions: click for Submission Guidelines Advertising: contact Bob Reap Subscribe for free home delivery Email: State: - Select State (required) - Alabama Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington DC Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming -- Canada United Kingdom Australia/NZ Other

Post: To medicate or not to medicate

Posted by Stan Frieholdt on 12/11/08

This opinion piece is the antithesis of a scholarly
inquiry into the pros and cons of using medication to
treat ADD/ADHD. Rather than offer evidence to support his
views, he simply moralizes about the lack of character and
the pervasiveness of disrespectful students. I agree that
these are problems but that doesn’t address the issue at
hand. His self-righteous, moralizing tone overlooks the
simple fact that for some children medication is a safe
and effective treatment for an otherwise disabling
condition. The pharmaceutical industry is certainly
overzealous in their promotion of psychoactive drugs, but
that is also a separate issue. The most preposterous (and
unsupported) statement he makes is “there is no stigma to
the label mental illness.” I doubt many people, if anyone,
would agree with this statement. Using the author’s own
reasoning, he shouldn’t need medication for hypertension.
He should just lose weight, manage stress, exercise, eat
right and refrain from alcohol and tobacco use. As the
late Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, “Everyone’s entitled to
their own opinion, but not to their own facts.”

RESPOND TO THIS POST ADD A NEW COMMENT RETURN TO ARTICLE

Posts on this thread, including this one


• ADHD and ADD: real or personal failing?, 6/22/08, by Seth.
• To medicate or not to medicate, 12/11/08, by Stan Frieholdt.