Are Kids Overmedicated? Argumentative Essays Examples

Introduction

For years, parents, teachers and therapists have been medicating children since the aforementioned starting noticing problems within that child; problems that the aforementioned did not feel capable of being able to handle. Medicating children have always been an option when parents needed relief from whatever that child was doing or was not doing which could be said was a lot of things, medicating kids was not as serious 20 years ago as it is today. Generally, kids were medicated for things such as behavior problems, sleep problems, anger problems and ADHD; the list goes on. It can be argued that the only reason why parents medicate or overmedicate their kids is because it is the only way to have any ‘real’ temporary peace from whatever is wrong with the child and the parents can feel like they solved the problem, unfortunately the problem is far from solved and parents also do not realize that by overmedicating their kids they have given birth to even more problems. For some parents, overmedicating their child is a precautionary measure to keep them under control and for the most part, it works to a great extent but sooner or later, parents will be forced to deal with their child’s problems if and when that medication wear off which it eventually does. Overmedicating kids do not completely solve the child’s problem, parents are only buying themselves time to save up money for their child’s next set of medications. Overmedicating kids does not solve their problems because the problems are still there which this paper will argue.

Body

Are kids overmedicated, the answer, an emphatic yes. Parents all over the U.S. are consumed with medicating their kids at the smallest sign of a behavioral problem, some would argue that this is realistic but it is not and here is why; children are more of a danger on medication than if they were not. Simply, having a child on medication because of a behavioral problem would solve the problem temporarily but the medication that the child is taking will not always be enough to keep them under control or keep their behavior under control; that child could still break those medication binds and attack someone. Seligson explained that “parents think they are helping their children by overmedicating them but they are just contributing to the problem, worsening the problem” (Seligson). Some parents get it in their minds like “okay, let’s try a stronger dose”. A stronger dose does not make it better, if anything a stronger dose just makes them increasingly violent and aggressive; not just turning on siblings along with other kids but on parents along with other relatives as well. There is more harm being done than good by overmedicating children because the medication is destroying the child’s sense of self and their acclimation to the various elements in their environment such as coalescing with other children, learning how to get along with other children instead of keeping them from other children because they are a danger to themselves as well as others. Insel explained that “overmedicated children do not need to be medicated to function in society, the kind of help that they need, medication cannot provide” (Insel). All the while, parents think that overmedicating their children is going to make the child act, be, and react better, they are just looking for a panacea to cure their child’s problem which medicine cannot do. 10% of school age children are diagnosed and medicated before they are preteen age, 1 in 6 children still show signs of aggression despite the medication; medication is not solution.

Body II

Parents are usually advised to go and see a psychiatrist when the child’s behavior starts getting out of control, the first thing they are told, let’s get him on some Ritalin. The thing about Ritalin is that it maybe the cure for ADHD but it opens the door to other problems not to mention sudden death, a child has never died from talking to a professional therapist or psychologist. Ritalin only cures their ADHD, it does not cure or stop them from feeling what they feel. Sometimes a child just needs an adult to understand or reason with them about what is going on because overmedicating them so they would act right just puts them on the fast track to them doing that to their kids in the far future, plus there is no guarantee that the Ritalin’s effect on the child’s mind will keep the child focused. Renki claim that “overmedicated children are not monsters, they are made monsters because of the medication their negligent parents are giving them” (Renki). Overmedication is the fate of children with negligent parents who are choosing to ignore the problem with their child and letting it work itself out which is not the way to handle that, a child left to its own devices with medication will rampage and destroy; the medication will be the precursor of that. Also, parents need to realize that sometimes kids just need to be heard not silenced nor overmedicated to be silent, when parents seek to overmedicate their kids, they are just showing their children that they, as parents, do not care or are too busy to care about them. Another reason why parents should not be so quick to overmedicate their child is because the medication messes with their bodily functions, an example of this is when a child who has an appetite to eat everything desires to eat nothing or to just drink. Overmedication has had more dire consequences for the adults instead of the child and the why is because the adults-the parents have to deal with the child when the medication does not do what it is supposed to; parents overmedicate their children because of their poor choices.

Body III

It can be argued that overmedicating kids make them better people and make them better to be around, it does not mean that they are completely unscathed from the medication; overmedicated does not mean better. Case in point, James is an 8-year-old with an active imagination and sometimes his overactive imagination leads him to have brief moments of inattention which IS NORMAL. James’ parents decide that getting James on medication might help combat this, but shortly after medicating James, they started noticing some ugly changes in James such as constant crying, hollering and screaming, increased aggression toward his sister Willow. James’ parents argued that this was a phase James was going through instead of looking at the real problem, themselves. By overmedicating James, his parents have opened the door to health problems that did not need to exist in the first place. Overmedicated children are two times more likely to act uncharacteristically than those who were just get psychological help, children who are overmedicated are the victims not the people they terrorize. Reinberg claim that “parents who dope their children up on medication aplenty are destroying their sweet innocent child from the inside out” (Reinberg). It is a known fact that overmedication has been the downfall of children for the last 71 years and parents still do not get it, overmedicating a child does not mean they are free from that kid’s problems, it just means that they found something to quell the unrest within that child that may or may not work. Kids are overmedicated these days because parents feel that everything can be solved with a pill instead of talking or reasoning with their child, but sometimes all that child needs is someone to listen to them talk which works better than any pill they can ever be given; children are people, people with problems with the things that are happening to them especially if they have some grasp of the situation they are in. Let it be known that the damage that overmedication causes is reprehensible which should be avoided at all costs.

Body IV

As most people will agree that overmedication will only work for so long then the parents are left wondering what to do next, it can be said that this is often the reaction of many parents with overmedicated children. Parents and some psychologists will say beyond reasonable doubt that they are doing the right thing in overmedicating their kids, but the truth is that all those pills are doing is getting the child ready to start experimenting with more lethal drugs later on when they are more than cognizant enough to know what is going on. Psychological help has always been an excellent method to get inside of a child’s mind, it works better than all of the overmedication methods that the child is getting plus the child gets an opportunity to express how they feel which some parents try to stifle. Parents will argue “well, the child psychologist is just wasting his time because there is no way that they can get through to our child”. This is where the mistake lie, parents are quick to assume something is not working after 1 or 2 sessions; psychology works better than overmedication because children will be able to express themselves in collective therapy and parents can learn how to properly handle their child if they are unfocused or misbehaving. Ellis explained that “overmedicating a child is not the worst case scenario, it is when parents are hoping that the medication is taking effect but it is not” (Ellis). Overmedication is not working which means that parents will have to find another way to assess and deal with their children’s behavioral and focus issues because if they try to feed every pill to their child, they are going to end up with a possible drug addict then drug pusher. It is not entirely uncommon for overmedicated children to die young which some have been known to, parents need to wake up to the facts about overmedicating their kids because overmedication has bred an generation of explosive tempered and unfocused children; this needs to stop now. Otherwise if this continue then children will grow up thinking that they need drugs to live.

Body V

As an effective countermeasure to overmedicating kids, parents should look into family therapy to find a healthy countermeasure to their children’s problems because family therapy has several benefits over medicating the child to the point where the child is a zombie or an enraged zombie. With family therapy, there is no medication the child is forced to take against their will so they can concentrate more in school or stop picking fights with their siblings and everyone gets involved including the parents who are forced to work with, along with care about, the activity of the child. Family therapy is a safe haven where kids can be who they are and get a chance to discuss what they are feeling, the family therapist will give the parents tips on how to raise their child in a more loving and caring environment instead of trying to prescribe them every medication in the world. Park claim that “parents need to get off of their butts and start acting like parents instead of businessmen and businesswomen who are too busy to care about family life” (Park). A lot of people do not have a lot of faith in therapy because they feel it is all just short term solutions and empty promises, therapy is all about getting help for those in need while trying to get to the root of the problem; overmedication will not do that. Overmedication has caused several severe cases of health problems and furthered mental problems, kids become different people against their will because their parents feel that they cannot go on dealing with their child unless they are medicated and out of their hair. This approach is not a just or healthy one because kids are showing signs of unhealthy behavior and their bodies are not reacting to the drugs they are forcibly taking, it can be argued that overmedication has allowed peace to reign over households all over the world but the truth is far less designed. Only things like family therapy and reasoning can help the child get back on track and focus, overmedication undoes the process and destroys them in said process. Overmedication is not the way.

Work Cited

Park, Madison. "Little People, Lots of Pills: Experts Debate Medicating Kids." CNN. 24 May 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/23/kids.overmedicated/>.
Ellis, Kori. "Are Meds Necessary or Are You a Lazy Parent?" She Knows. 3 Apr. 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/954543/adhd-overdiagnosed-and-overmedicated>.
Reinberg, Steven. "U.S. Kids Might Not Be Over-Medicated After All." Health Day. 3 Dec. 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://consumer.healthday.com/mental-health-information-25/anorexia-news-28/u-s-kids-might-not-be-over-medicated-after-all-671262.html>.
Seligson, Hannah. "The Overmedicated Myth." The Daily Beast. 2 Mar. 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/03/02/the-overmedicated-myth.html>.
Insel, Thomas. "Are Chidren Overmedicated?" NIMH. 6 June 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2014/are-children-overmedicated.shtml>.
Renki, Margaret. "Are We Overmedicating Our Kids?" Parenting. 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <http://www.parenting.com/article/are-we-overmedicating-our-kids>.