Drugging Kids for a Break

[Brainmeats]

So most of us have seen it before. Stressed out parents with little brats who won't shut their mouths. They are always getting into trouble...
What's a parent to do? Well, according to this article, the 'joke' that was always told about drugging the kids to get them to nap is highly overused and is causing many problems...

Linkage to CNN Story

So, I understand going to the doc and getting some sedatives for traveling purposes (esp if kid gets carsick or something like that)... but some of these people are just plain stupid.

Thoughts?

[Viridis]

One mom, Jill Smokler, said she doesn't vilify parents who medicate their kids: "It's not the end of the world."
"It's certainly better than being pushed to edge, spanking a child or slamming doors or really losing it," she said.

Apparently drugging them's better than a spanking. Who knew?

[Ryanderman]

If you're spanking a child with the same attitude or in the same way as slamming doors or losing your temper, you've entirely missed the point of spanking and are on the border of (or crossed over, gotten a job, bought a house, and married a local) abuse. So in that context, I think depending on the drug, I might see that as better than spanking.

[tacticslion]

Originally Posted by Viridis

Apparently drugging them's better than a spanking. Who knew?

I know, right? Because all those kids who were spanked in the history of the world grew up into violent, cruel, petty people! Who drug their kids! So the moral of the story: spanking a child today, is like drugging your grandchild!

In seriousness, though, my parents recently took a young teen into their house (by parental request) who'd been forced on Ritalin for the majority of his life - to the point where the maximum allowable dosage was leaving him both out of it and still hyper-active. They forced him through six months without it, and schooling. How's it gone? Hard. Very hard, occasionally. At times, they've thought about giving up. But what'd'ya'know? After most of a year, he got better. He's actually improved in every category without taking the drugs and with normal, persistent, consistent discipline*. Has he been miraculously cured of all his problems? Not hardly. But he didn't need the drugs to function normally most of the time. After nine months, they brought him to a doctor, explained the situation, had a number of tests, and, periodically, he'll go with the smallest dosage possible - this is to help him maintain better control. But he's proven to himself and recently to his family, that he can do it without drugs. They didn't know that before. He was, by medical view, and by social/legal view a perceived "lost cause". Obviously, that's not the case. I firmly believe we highly, highly over-medicate, as a culture, and this guy is a good example of that.

While this doesn't perfectly relate to the article, it gives a good starting point. First, we're*** over-medicated, culturally. We've seen this. We know this. We're over-prescribed, and we go with it gleefully. When you have too much of anything, it desensitizes you - you lose your respect for it, and become inclined to think it's not that dangerous, even if it still is. Most car accidents happen two miles from home for that reason. We use so many drugs, culturally, that we forget that they can be dangerous, or have bad long-term consequences. That's what I think is going on here. We look at "drugs" as a broad label, and because we're so familiar with it, we don't see the danger underneath.

Oh, one other thing: it's not that most parents of overly medicated kids are really "too busy". Try telling that to mine, who've (in addition to raising the three of us over the course of thirty years) done this while: taking care of a church and school, with one teaching full time, the other being a pastor full time (including visits and the like), sitting on a missions board, taking care of a rental home, and overseeing missions in at least four countries, being volunteer tutors, and, somehow, keeping the house in order. Also, periodically having lots of younger kids over to their house for various school parties. And going to college for certification. I'm not saying that it's easy - it's not. That's one of the things about love: it doesn't matter what else happens, love persists, persists, persists, persists, and, when all else fails, is dead, and gone, love persists, because it's a commitment made day by day, not "how I feel today". Aaaaaaand with that I'm off topic. /rant

*I'm not talking about spanking, or any other sort of "capital"** punishment. He's not their child, so they can't and won't do anything like that, but he is in their house, under their authority.
**Seriously "capital punishment" is how some refer to spanking. Really? Really? "Capital"? Sorry, off-topic.
***I'm not talking about any one person, nor indicating that all people in my culture fall into this category.


EDIT:

Originally Posted by Ryanderman

If you're spanking a child with the same attitude or in the same way as slamming doors or losing your temper, you've entirely missed the point of spanking and are on the border of (or crossed over, gotten a job, bought a house, and married a local) abuse. So in that context, I think depending on the drug, I might see that as better than spanking.

This is absolutely true. Spanking is not supposed to be an anger reflex - that is wrong and means you've lost self control. I underwent the spanking treatment, but oh, man, what I remember most of all about that? The fact that my parents sent me to my room to wait for it, while they calmed down. Also, the subsequent long explanations of why I was about to get spanked once they came back, and why that was wrong, and that let me know what not to do again! Also, the spanking itself was kept brief.

[Brainmeats]

This is absolutely true. Spanking is not supposed to be an anger reflex - that is wrong and means you've lost self control. I underwent the spanking treatment, but oh, man, what I remember most of all about that? The fact that my parents sent me to my room to wait for it, while they calmed down. Also, the subsequent long explanations of why I was about to get spanked once they came back, and why that was wrong, and that let me know what not to do again! Also, the spanking itself was kept brief.

And this my friends is the correct way to spank if you so choose to.

The ADHD meds is one thing... they are Dr prescribed, even if they are over prescribed.
But feeding your 1.5 yr old Benadryl to make them sleep? That is really, seriously dangerous!

He found 1,439 cases from 2000 to 2008. Of those, 14 percent resulted in injuries, and 18 children died. More than half of the cases involved at least one sedating drug; 17 of the 18 deaths included sedatives. Yin said the poison data most likely underestimates the actual number of cases.

[krogothwolf]

Man, drugs now? Why not just make them watch N.Night Shamyalan movies if they don't want to calm down. The kids would beg and plead for you to not. It'd be win win!

[tacticslion]

Originally Posted by Brainmeats

The ADHD meds is one thing... they are Dr prescribed, even if they are over prescribed.
But feeding your 1.5 yr old Benadryl to make them sleep? That is really, seriously dangerous!

As far as the prescribed medicine - it's not wrong in and of itself. In fact, it's a good thing. The problem comes when it's prescribed for people who fidget just as much as the people who really need it. Then you've got the people who might need it for one issue, but because they've got other issues, end up being misdiagnosed and given WAY too much, which doesn't do anything, but leaves parents frustrated because "the medicine isn't working", so the doctor goes, "okay, let's try some more!" ad nauseum.

Also, yeah the Benadryl was a very, very bad, dangerous idea. That said, it turns out her daughter reacts to Benadryl the way I react to Benadryl! W00t! I'm not a freak anymore! ... well, okay, I still am, but not as much of a freak anymore. ... Well, at least I'm not the only one that reacts to Benadryl that way!

EDIT:

Originally Posted by krogothwolf

Man, drugs now? Why not just make them watch N.Night Shamyalan movies if they don't want to calm down. The kids would beg and plead for you to not. It'd be win win!

No, krogo, we're talking about NOT being abusive parents, here. That's the opposite of that. *(I suppose now would not be the time to derail this thread fast and say I've enjoyed all the films of his I saw, aka everything before Lady In the Water, so I don't actually believe this?)

[Krylo]

While drugging kids is unequivocally wrong, the article is being pretty unrepresentative of the actual dangers in doing so, by noting the 18 deaths/14 injuries out of 1,439 cases (roughly 2% including both injuries and deaths)--and then blatantly admitting they were including things like parents who used cocaine it pretty ridiculous.

It really shouldn't require shock marketing like that to explain that you don't slip your kids a mickey.

[tacticslion]

Originally Posted by Krylo

It really shouldn't require shock marketing like that to explain that you don't slip your kids a mickey.

Technically, it also shouldn't require warning labels to explain that ELECTRICAL DEVICES (such as toasters and hair dryers) SHOULDN'T GO INTO BATH TUBS, or that PEANUTS CONTAIN, GASP, PEANUTS, AND THUS SHOULDN'T BE GIVEN TO PEOPLE WITH ALLERGIES, but we have those anyway.

[Krylo]

True, but this is the equivalent of writing a story about spankings, and then saying that 30 out of 3000 children died, and then in the next paragraph talking about how a couple beat their child to death with a tire iron as an example.

It's ridiculous.