Better Parenting Through Chemistry

I was at the gym doing my normal routine Saturday morning totally in my little world not listening to the radio until I heard about this clinical trial for a new type of drug for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD, in children 6-12 years old. I just sat there slack jawed, dumbfounded.

Kids are going to be full of energy, willful, challenging authority. It's just in their nature of learning how they fit in the world and how they explore it. As part of growing up, children have to figure out and it's up to their parents/guardians to help them in that process. It's part of the process called "socialization" that kids learn the in's and out's of learning how to interact with the regular adult world.

Raising children is not easy and it takes work. I think with today's newer generations that are raising kids are too busy and want immediate gratification. Well guess what...kids are a long term project that never really ends (as my mother can attest to). Yes, kids can be infuriating and drive you crazy at times. But I don't think that drugging your kids into zombies at the age of 12 because you don't have time (or make time) to do a job as a parent is the solution. I started looking at these official government sites talking about ADHD and was astounded. It looks like everyone wants a quick fix and the drug companies are more than willing for a "small" monetary sum provide "docile" kids in a simple "pill-sized" solution.

Now I'll probably never get to raise kids (I'll save that for another post perhaps) but I know from my parents that raising a kid is probably the hardest and the most rewarding thing that they've done. It takes work, loads of patience, and love. Children aren't things you can just drug into submission because they decide to explore and test the world by themselves the only way they know how...by being active and challenging authority.