For this semester, the focus of my research and essays will be on the over medication of children. In our current day and age, children in the United States are being diagnosed with ADHD at insanely high rates. However, how much of the issue can be attributed to an actual disorder as opposed to kids just being themselves? We end up medicating kids from a very young age and it can do terrible damage to their developing minds and bodies. However, the worst damage is done whenever other drugs are used to counteract the side effects of ADHD medications. In a lot of cases, the medication which counteracts a side effect of the ADHD drug has its own side effects, so another drug is added in addition to the other medications to counteract the resulting side effect. Many of these drugs have side effects, so many children end up taking a large amount of pills, which is highly dangerous to their health. There has been an increasing frequency of kids diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a result of their many medications, and it is afflicting our youngest generations, the ones who are supposed to be leading our country in the future.
I am calling for action by both physicians and parents to look at diagnoses more intently and not be so quick to medicate kids when they appear to be hyperactive or struggle with paying attention. Often, this just has to do with kids being kids, or a lack of proper parenting. Instead of trying to restrict the entire manner of children, the focus should be on using that energy in a positive manner or using non-medical ways to control behavior. The drugs just seem too damaging to the psychology of kids, and the ruin which results has lasting impacts. We have to take action to protect the ones who will one day take care of us. We are harming children just for being themselves because we do not like the energy or do not feel like we have the time or energy to deal with the work associated with them. We must work to preserve the nature and mental health of our young by making sensible choices about them in their youth, rather than loading them with harmful medications. There are better ways of keeping children under control, and any of them is better than damaging them for life.
Your research might have to get a little involved in what the practice for diagnosing ADHD meds looks like. Your argument's voluntary, so I'll be looking for what your guidelines for diagnosing you might be recommending. There might already be a journal article proposing a new method, so keep an eye open for that. Also, look at this in terms of outcomes. You end with "There are better ways of keeping children under control," but is "control" what doctors and parents should be looking for?
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