The Drugging of Our Children and Decline of American Education
It is estimated that in the United States between 4 million and 8 million children are on Ritalin, the drug being used to change the behavior of children afflicted with a so-called “disease” called Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder ADHD. We already know that the long-term use of Ritalin can be fatal.
What parents are not being told by psychiatrists who prescribe the drug and the school nurses who give it to the kids is that taking Ritalin is like playing Russian roulette, simply because nobody can be sure what the
side-effects will be. Why would anyone subject a child to a drug with so many possible harmful side effects simply to “treat” an attention problem? How about creating classrooms with more order and fewer distractions.
This week’s guest, Samuel L. Blumenfeld, has published ten books on education in America, and he has spent much of his career investigating the decline in American literacy, the reasons for the high rate of learning disabilities in American children, the reasons why so many children are labeled ADD, and why the school system refuses to use intensive phonics in reading instruction.