Jessica Tice Eng 111 10/1/13

ADHD and Treatments. When it comes to learning in the 21st century, the medication used to treat ADHD and ADD is being abused more than they are being used to help treat the problems. Adderall, Ritalin, or Concerta all are similar medications used to primarily treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD/ADD). There has been a huge increase in the illegal usage of these medications. You can be prescribed it without being tested for any symptoms. Whether youre abusing your own prescription or selling it to other people, its a big problem. Most of the time its being used for all night cram sessions for homework or tests. Or even a really long shift at work. The problem is that the symptoms of ADHD/ADD are not only occurring in college students, it is happening more frequently in younger students, as young as the age of nine. Sherlyn Ezell Powell, a professor at the University of Louisiana, said that ADHD can be compared with conditions such as disorders and diabetes or high blood pressure (113). With that said its easy to see why parents do choose to put their children on medications. Whether you agree with it or not most parents are on board with the idea of their kids getting their children help for their learning disabilities. Teachers are noticing a huge lack of interest in school, as well as behavior issues in students. College students are buying and selling their prescriptions to each other. They have found a way to make it harder for students to buy and sell by making it into a liquid form. The problem with

this is it the misuse and if it continues what does that mean for the students in middle schools who really need it. Its not that only young kids need it. There are a large number of college students that need it as well, but its just that the kids that are nine and ten years old are not the ones buying and selling it to their friends. Right now in society there are many disagreements on whether or not parents should give their kids these medications to help with ADHD or ADD, there is also a problem with doctors diagnosing too many students with this disorder. Linda Smith, a professor at the University of Tennessee mentioned, there currently exist many debates concerning the administration of medication to children diagnosed as having a disorder referred to as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) versus interactions involving behavioral related treatments(107). The sizes of classrooms now in elementary schools are larger than they have been in the past. There are more teacher aids and student teachers in the classrooms to make it easier to help students. The increase of children being diagnosed with these disorders starts with the teachers having a say in how the student is doing in their classrooms and with their school work. She also pointed out, Studies show that prescription rates fluctuate depending on how tolerant parents and teachers are of a childs behavior (Smith, 108). So with the increasing class sizes there is less individual focus that can be given to students. So that means more teachers are just using the easy way out and telling parents to take kids to their doctors. Parents are getting a jump start on their childrens learning abilities and ability to engage in school from the first years they start school. There are ways to get a head of the game, with daycares and preschools. But if your student is having trouble when they

reach the ages of nine, or ten then there are steps you can take. Like these medications, and believe it or not agree or disagree they are making a huge impact on learning. Dr. Hemamali Perera, a psychiatrist feels, close involvement of parents in monitoring outcome of treatment of ADHD helps to focus on aspects of care relevant to them (51-55). And of course they arent just giving these young kids medication, they run tests and the students get to see a psychiatrist. For now the selling and distributing of your own prescription is illegal, the drug enforcement agencies are not paying a lot of attention to college students. But in the next few years if problems keep going at the pace they are at, the agencies wont be able to keep it on the back burner much longer. If the outcome comes to the medication becoming illegal than that is going to cause a huge problem for the younger students who are going to need it to help with their education, and not only them but the students who have already been on it for long term and need it. It could further affect their learning because they have been set on this medication to help give them the confidence to become the learners they want to be. There are long term effects for abusing this drug without it being prescribed to you and if the number of these effects keeps increasing then thats going to raise a flag for the agencies and force them to take action. Dr. Vaya Papageorgiou, M.D at the University of Ionian School of Medicine, states, children with ADHD usually have functional impairment across multiple settings and are at risk for long-term adverse effects on social-emotional development, academic performance, interpersonal relationships with family members and peers(8-11). The effects that this medication has on you if youre not prescribed can cause an addictive behavior that is more reason the law enforcement and drug agencies to get involved. If this medication is harder to

get prescribed or even becomes illegal that that will cause more at home schooling and online schooling in younger students, because the students will have to learn at their own pace and the teachers will have a difficult time running a classroom with select students on a different timeline than the rest. Parents are more likely to pull their kids from public school if the teacher cant teach them because of their ADHD/ADD. If more home schooling and online schooling occurs than that means a childs lack of ability to be social. We put our kids in daycare and preschool for a reason, to help with the social learning skill. Also if we have a decrease in children going to public schools that means a decrease in the number of parents working full time, because they have to be home with their kids. This will increase the size of lower class families, and with the cost of living increasing along with the costs of health care the poverty level will for sure increase. Then parents wont be able to afford the online or homeschooling anyways!

Work Cited Peabody Journal of Education. Should Children Receive Medication For Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Learning Disability Quarterly Achievement Goals of Students with ADHD

Differences in Parents' and Teachers' Ratings of ADHD Symptoms and Other Mental Health Problems Vaya Papageorgiou, Efrosini Kalyva, Vaios Dafoulis, Panos Vostanis

Assessment of outcome of an ADHD treatment program using parent feedback Hemamali Perera, Kamal ChandimaJeewandara, Sudharshi Seneviratne, Chandima Guruge