Albert Einstein did not speak until the age of 7 and was described as mentally slow and unsociable. What if he had been put on Ritalin? Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. Isaac Newton did very poorly in school. Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. Were all these great men also candidates for Ritalin? In today’s society we teach our children to “SAY NO TO DRUGS,” yet when they show signs of not paying attention, fidgeting, squirming or talking excessively, they are labeled with a disease called Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The three million children with this disorder are prescribed Ritalin.
Ritalin is a schedule II drug, this same rating is given to cocaine, morphine, opium, and methadone. Some of the side effects of Ritalin are nervousness, insomnia, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, anorexia, abdominal pain, weight loss and Tourette’s Syndrome. Is it any surprise that there is so much violence in our schools today? What are we doing to our children?
Instead of putting our children on highly addictive and dangerous drugs, we need to investigate our options. A vast majority of studies show that decreasing preservatives, colorings, and sugar in the diet is helpful. We need to spend more time with our children and make it quality time. Reducing class size and increasing physical activity would also be beneficial. We should also have our children checked for nerve interference because it can cause a problem with body chemistry and behavior. Chiropractic has been known to be effective in children with ADD and other problems. Chiropractic care for kids is gentle and safe.
Our children are going to be future presidents of our country or they may invent something as useful as the light bulb. What if Albert Einstein had been on Ritalin – where would we be today?
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