Hot Topic (5/16): Would you give your kids drugs to give them an edge?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

A recent article in the New Yorker, discusses the use of Adderall by people without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. 

"Adderall, a stimulant composed of mixed amphetamine salts, is commonly prescribed for children and adults who have been given a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. But in recent years Adderall and Ritalin, another stimulant, have been adopted as cognitive enhancers: drugs that high-functioning, overcommitted people take to become higher-functioning and more overcommitted...

...A majority of the fourteen hundred readers who responded said that healthy adults should be permitted to take brain boosters for nonmedical reasons, and sixty-nine per cent said that mild side effects were an acceptable risk. Though a majority said that such drugs should not be made available to children who had no diagnosed medical condition, a third admitted that they would feel pressure to give “smart drugs” to their kids if they learned that other parents were doing so."

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Would you be tempted to give your children "smart drugs" to give them an edge over their peers? 

[stormcris]

When did speed become a brain booster????

Yea sure I want a kid that is burnt out before they are twelve with a major heart condition and the possibility of a heart attack at any age.NOT!!!

[resamerie]

No way. Besides the fact that I can't even fathom giving my child a drug unless it was for medicinal purposes, I believe it would probably predispose them to taking drugs at a later age. The mentality being, "there's a pill for everything".  

[jajamama]

NO NO NO my son would neverr bo on those drugs unless it was medically nessisary i hate the pressure now to make them read nd write before kidnergarten when did haveing a childhood and learing how to play fall out of fashon honestly the world needs to slow down and let kids learn at their own speed. some of our best inventors and writers would never have been that way if they didnt have time to use their imagination and tinker round with things and ideas

[christina0607]

Ummm...NO!

[ColtsFan1912]

disgusting

NEver

[tericared]

Nope, no, not, nada, hell to the no,,,,,

[ta1jade]

 There's no way I'd ever do that! First off I'm leery of any drugs, even if my child was prescribed something - I'd want to make sure it was absolutely necessary. So to give drugs to kids who don't have a condition just to give them an "edge" - I don't know why parents would do that. Our kids have enough pressure to perform "best" as it is, w/o parents pushing pills on them. That's just gonna be damaging. Positive encouragement & support will do more than drugs ever could for these kids.

[tyesmommy7907]

absolutly not. if my son needs them for medical reasons then he will take them, but not for any other reason.

[pagan_mama]

Good grief! What a terrible idea. I think doctors are too quick to diagnose a child as ADD or ADHD and give them meds, already. This is just a way to get them ALL medicated. HELL TO THE NO! Any parent who would do that needs to have their children taken and placed in a safe, non-drug-abusing home where they have at least half a chance of growing up normal. Giving a child performance-enhancing drugs is absolutely no different from feeding them street meth every day with their breakfast.

[shinyhappymom]

That is so sad.  I think social services should be involved if a parent abuses their child with meds.