havior, and this can lead to misdiagnosis. This misdiagnosis can lead to children being medicated for no reason and therefore slowing down the learning creativity of these once very imaginative children (Stapleton).If a child has been correctly diagnosed with ADHD, there are still many problems with prescribing stimulant drugs as a "cure". A report in the Insight on the News reports that, "The use of Ritalin has soared 500 percent in the United States during the last five years"(Price 1). There has been an increase only in the United States in such great numbers. Other countries deal with their children quite differently than in the United States. The Japanese do not use ADHD as a disorder, but just the way preschool aged children act normally. The culture causes a drastic change in behavior for children when they begin school at age six. This culture believes in changing the behavior instead of calling it a learning disability and using drugs to alter the mind of the children (Donovan). The drug Ritalin is the prominent choice for physicians when treating ADHD in children; some of these children are as young as preschool age. "Despite evidence that this drug [Ritalin] has harmful side effects and stifles creativity, doctors still ignore a safer, better solution," according to and article written on the ADHD problems (Robbins 1). "Ritalin is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance related to amphetaminesRecent FDA studies suggest it may even be carcinogenic," according to conservative activist, Phyllis Schlafly (Narrett 2). This does not seem like something parents would want their children to have with the risks involved. The children that begin taking Ritalin seem to be more focused on their goals and do better in their studies in school. The children also start acting more compliant and fewer outbursts occur. This seems to be an easy way out for the adults that have to deal with these children. This also decreas...
