Why do people tell kids "just say no to drugs", then put millions of them on ritalin, other powerful drugs.

Question

hypocritical to me. Americans take drugs for every little thing, and then every little made up thing. no wonder kids experiment with illegal drugs so much

im not talking about every single one, i know some kids need some medications, i'm talking about the millions, (yes millions of american kids) on doctor prescribed powerful, mind altering drugs.. its sad

Answer 1

We are taught from the beggining that a pill can solve anything, they give us asprin for headaches, tylenol for fever, antibiotics for sicknesses. Why would that type of conditioning not lead us to believe that drugs are the solution.

Answer 2

This question really angers me. And I am going to tell you why.

Here goes:
I have a 9yr old son that had a brain surgery at age 9months. Everything was fine up until he was about 2. He started to do things that weren't his usual behaivor. So we started behiavor modification, special needs preschool, ect. We even had him enrolled in an alternative school, for kids that have attention problems, learning problems. Also recently he just turned 10 and we found out last year that he has an autistic disorder. The one thing that kept me going was that I found a doctor that I could honestly trust, and I am so grateful because we have him on the right medications. Sometimes a parent has no other choice than to try the medications. It should always be a last resort. YOu have to do a lot of research and waive your options before you even consider putting a child or yourself on any type of medication. Some doctors say hey give the kid this med and well take it from there. Im the type that says show me the statistics, and then I will decide if I feel its a good move for my child.
And yes we do tell kids to say no to STREET DRUGS!!! thats just common sense. I do not know one parent that begged the doctor to give my kid some brain altering drugs so i dont have to deal with him/her. Thats crazy and any parent like that needs to have their own head examined.

Answer 3

Well, I used to work for an educational company that was trying to teach parents to help their children slow down and use meditation and spiritual techniques so that Ritalin would not be necessary. The founder seemed to see a connection between being on Ritalin and using illicit drugs, but I don't necessarily see a huge correlation as a psychology major and from personal observations in drug rehab centers I have visited a few times. From a Mormon point of view, I would say that Satan and his followers are working on everyone they can to tempt people of all ages - but especially the younger generation - to use drugs to slow down their spiritual progress. And drug abuse is not just limited to Americans, by the way. I saw a show how alcohol abuse is rampant in Britain, and that made me feel bad. I hear it is still prevalent in other countries worldwide as well. I'm interested in using message theater to reach teenagers but it will take a while to research it more. Have a happy day.

Answer 4

It seems hypocritical to anyone who does not use their own common sense, but allows their behavior to be influenced by advertising and hype.

For a self thinking person, no fake or misleading policy is going to cause them to make poor decisions. The "just say no" program is designed to teach students that not everything they see and hear is correct. The only kids that experiment with illegal drugs are the ones who have not been encouraged to read, evaluate, and think for themselves.

It is a mistaken idea that a person has to experience something to understand it. Do we all have to get bitten by a dog to know it hurts? Of course not. We can see for ourselves we don't want to be bitten. True "experience" means looking at the experience of others make up our minds from that.

Answer 5

Doctors choice as apposed to recreation, you do the math.