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A.D.D. -- Kids On Prescription Drugs.
(Readers--This is Mike's considered essay on the "Charles Bishop family vs the makers of Accutane" lawsuit, referenced on the front page, last issue.---Nolan)

Attention Deficit Disorder
A couple of elements that seem to be overlooked, or perhaps simply not addressed in discussions on this topic, seem to me, to be vital explanations of why we're at this stage, and also helps predict the future outlook upon this item.

We often compare these kids with ourselves as children, and how we were disciplined for behavior that kids these days are being prescribed medicine for. It's not a fair comparison by any means. Kids today have had the dubious benefit of being carried in the womb by women who were eating food preservatives that were never around when you and I were being raised. Studies have shown that the use of these preservatives has had a direct correlation to the amount of children diagnosed with A.D.D., though the specific effects of the drugs could not be ascertained. In other words, this is a real problem that was never around when we were kids, so a "swift kick in the ass" isn't going to fix these kids like it apparently fixed us when WE were kids. I've seen some of these A.D.D. diagnosed kids, and I can usually see it, almost immediately, for most, there's DEFINITELY something wrong with these kids. There ARE some that I feel may have been misdiagnosed, but of course, I'm not qualified to officially know the difference.

In certain areas of Texas, where my older (mentally dysfunctional, in my opinion) sister lives, EVERY child in the towns and smaller cities, have been diagnosed with A.D.D.. This has been attributed to the fact that there are processing plants in the area that makes preservatives, and they are used extensively throughout the area. The testing that was originally done on these preservatives were only based on direct exposure to the drug, not inherited exposure. It may seem a bit odd that I'm suggesting that food preservatives can affect you on what may prove to be a genetic level, but take a look at NutraSweet, it can cause cancer which is really just an easy way of saying "cell mutations beyond what our genetic code dictates." In any event, there's been a fairly strong link between using these preservatives and having offspring with A.D.D.. Since the testing has been unable to determine precisely what the preservatives are doing that is creating the A.D.D. situation, nothing has been done to change it.

Another related factor is that although you (effectively) aren't allowed to physically discipline your children anymore, most parents (having been taught through capital punishment methods themselves) don't have any ideas on how else to combat behavioral problems. So now you're talking about physical punishment for things beyond the child's control. This is abuse, regardless of how severe or unsevere the punishment is, and it enhances the problem because now you've got kids that are learning that they aren't able to control things that they are expected to control, and will be beaten because of it. That's a wonderful scenario where you are effectively brainwashing the child into either complete emotional submission or complete irrational rebellion, similar to what you'd find in a P.O.W. camp, the only real difference is the severity of the punishment, which has to be scaled against the fact that these are mere children, not trained soldiers. The sick irony is that emotionally, the severity of the physical abuse in a POW camp is actually better for a child than the lesser abuse for the simple fact that a child "can take" the lesser abuse, and therefore decides that "the beatings aren't that bad", unless they become more severe. Coupled with the brainwashing, you're in for a serial killer.

Essentially, what happens is that the child learns that regardless of what he/she does to the contrary, they will be punished for it. The next logical thought is either:" I deserve it, better curl-up and accept it", or "How dare they? this isn't fair." This inevitably leads to either: "Hmm..I'm apparently a bad guy, I might as well start enjoying the benefits if I have to suffer for it anyways", or "you think THAT's bad? time to step it up a notch." Ironically, if the severity of the punishment were on par with a POW camp, the child would emotionally collapse and all resistance would be ironed out (if they survived).

The use of spanking has another side effect created by our society: I had friends tell me that they spanked (on the bottom) and grounded their 14-year-old daughter for sneaking the family car out of the garage in an attempt to go joyriding with her friends. Ten minutes later, the police showed up at the front door. The daughter had called 911 from her bedroom and complained of being abused. It's almost funny, but not quite, especially since you realize that her father was almost imprisoned on just her say so, and is actually still on probation a year later. Putting a parent on probation is empowerment for a child, and they suddenly become your keeper. To this day, she still threatens to have the police out to the house again. It certainly hasn't helped her behavioral issues any. (I should mention that she was never diagnosed with A.D.D., but it's currently suspected.)

So now you have REAL problems with apparently no successful solutions, and only prescription drugs to turn-to for a temporary remedy. The REAL eye-opener here? Those same preservatives are still regularly added to most foods these days, only now on a stronger national level. The kids that have A.D.D. are presumably coming into contact with more of those chemicals, and the time is swiftly approaching when those behaviorally challenged individuals are going to be having children. In fact, many of them ARE beginning to have kids. The majority of the A.D.D. generation is approximately in their last year, or two, in high school. In case no ones been keeping notes: most of the really shocking youth behavioral issues we've seen (Columbine, neighbor's body under the bed, killing by wrestling to death, shot a teacher, shot a student, etc, etc) is coming from this "A.D.D. generation" which is hot on the heels of (and possibly a part of the tail-end of) "Generation X". The difference is, there's no apparent end to the ADD generation.

Attention Deficit Disorder is merely the beginning stages of what's quickly becoming far worse. You can prescription the thing to death, but if you aren't actually able to repair it, a different solution is needed quickly. Capital punishment is helping to breed psychopaths in instances where there IS untreated chemical imbalance. You put a kid on Ritalin and start letting them experiment with alcohol, and you've got a toxic situation on your hands where the medicine is effectively blocked from doing its job. Now yell at the kid for things beyond his control while his toxicity levels are rising, and you've got Charles Manson.

Now go let the Charles Mansons go raise some kids of their own, and tell me where you think the future is headed.