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Increase in ADHD medication
At the end of the 1980s, around 200,000 children in the USA were being homeschooled; by 1997 there were more than 1.1 million homeschooled children, and the numbers are currently rising at a rate of about 15% a year.(abstracted from) ‘Homeschool is Growing Worldwide’
Are these two trends related, by any chance? Perhaps, hidden in the homeschooling movement, there are parents who, regardless of their actual views on alternative education, just want their children safely out of the institutionalized school system, where it seems that some of the fiercest battles between the pro- and anti-‘ADHD’ armies are currently raging.
According to information at the Education World website:
“The number of preschool children being treated with medication for ADHD tripled between 1990 and 1995.”
“The number of children ages 15 to 19 taking medication for ADHD has increased by 311 percent over 15 years.”
“The use of medication to treat children between the ages of 5 and 14 also increased by approximately 170 percent.”
Dr. Peter Breggin, in his testimony to the US House of Representatives, suggests that something other than a desire to improve the quality of the learning experience is the reason for these increasing numbers:
“ADD/ADHD diagnosis was developed specifically for the purpose of justifying the use of drugs to subdue the behaviors of children in the classroom. The content of the diagnosis in the 1994 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association shows that it is specifically aimed at suppressing unwanted behaviors in the classroom.”
Next, ADHD and education
ADHD-Report.com: The concerned
parents' guide to childrens' attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD/ADD)