I haven’t seen much use of drugs for hyperactivity myself, but it’s out there and probably increasing. I haven’t heard of any abuses of the process (unless you count parents or other relatives stealing the drugs to use themselves or sell on the street, which definitely happens). I tend to suspect that some of the boys who are given drugs tend to be children of parents who do not teach their children good behaviour and who do not or cannot give them opportunities to learn ways of working off their excess energy such as family outings involving hiking or other activities, or sports. But I don’t have any evidence for this. Schools, especially at the primary and elementary levels, tend to attempt to be quiet, too. There was a time when people wrote papers claiming that regular physical activity for all students at every grade improved behaviour and academic acheivement all round, but nowadays the emphasis seems to be on academics and saving money by reducing ‘frills’.

I can’t seem to get the WSJ with this Internet connection, so I can’t comment on John’s article. Some people oppose school choice because it’s seen as reducing the unity among a population by enabling various subgroups to all go to different schools, which in turn will mean that they not only don’t know anyone of a subgroup other than their own, they may well suffer some loss if their school system is worse than the others.

When asked how it made him feel after the medication took hold, he told me (and this is a ten-year-old, previously failing school), “I like it because I can concentrate now. I never could before.” His other remarks made it clear he was proud of his new achievements in school.

So…no nightmare tales from other parents or students, perhaps my perceptions are skewed.

However, I also know personally just how far people are trending to see abuse, syndromes, or *something* that needs to be treated all around them. Try taking a kid who has tried to see how Mom’s razor sharp fabric cutter works on his pajama pants (while he was wearing them, with predictable results on the leg inside) to an ER. Please note this kid had never touched one of my tools before, and yes it was out of his easy reach.

I’ve never seen so many people try to get out of a crying, bloody 5-year-old that his mother did/did not do this to him. Sheesh. I know somebody has to ask…but *everybody*? Couldn’t one person ask and then write it on the chart?

And I’ve had the police show up at my door because a Salvation Army worker at my home to pick up a donation heard:
A. Me crying (working through some therapy issues at the time) and
B. My husband swear (not happy at being interrupted while he tried to comfort me).

Try standing in the hallway (still crying) and telling the nice officers (why are they always 12 feet tall?) “No, my husband doesn’t beat me.” Grrr. So now there’s a police report of possible domestic violence in a home where no one commits any sort of violence. Great.

So yeah, I get it. I’m just not ready to blame all teachers or nurses for it. Those are two types who have done great good in my life.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124363939608167947.html

Could someone please explain why US Democrats are opposed to school choice?