About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

10 Clearinghouse Rev. 181 (1976-1977)
The Coerced Use of Ritalin for Behavior Control in Public Schools: Legal Challenges

handle is hein.journals/clear10 and id is 187 raw text is: THE COERCED USE OF RITALIN FOR BEHAVIOR
CONTROL IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: LEGAL CHALLENGES
by Jane E. Jackson*

1.   INTRODUCTION
Six years ago, Hon. Cornelius Gallagher opened an
inquiry into federal involvement in the controversial practice
of  giving   stimulant  drugs, particularly    Ritalin
(methylphenidate), to elementary school children in order to
make them sit still and concentrate on their tasks, with these
observations:
... The indications are that these drugs are now
being widely employed to ameliorate the ef-
fects of what is called minimal brain dysfunc-
tion (MBD) in children. One of our witnesses.
today has been quoted as saying that the use
of this type of therapy will zoom from its
current usage in approximately 200,000 to
300,000 American children today.
These amphetamines, such as Dexedrine and
Ri'talin, apparently do not act the same in
children as they do in young adults, according
to some authorities. Instead of being speed
and accelerating the individuals activity pat-
tern, proponents of the program claim that the
amphetamines slow down the child and make
him controllable both in the classroom and at
home. This use of amphetamines to calm chil-
dren termed hyperactive is called the para-
doxical effect and it is but one of the many
paradoxes  which  this hearing  is designed
to explore. Let me list a few contradictory
implications.
First, and a distressingly obvious paradox, is
the effect of accelerating this use of ampheta-
Miss Jackson wrote this article as a senior law student at
Vanderbilt University. She is presently employed by the
Cable Television Bureau, Federal Communications Com-
mission, Washington, D.C.

mines on our extensive national campaign
against drug abuse. From the time of puberty
onward, each and every child is told that
speed kills.... Yet this same child has
learned that Ritalin, for example, is the only
thing which makes him a functioning member
of the school environment....
Second, I am very concerned about the fact
that the child who has been undergoing drug
therapy becomes a permanent part of the
child's school record [sic]....
And here we come to what is perhaps the
greatest paradox in this entire program. . . . I
am well aware of the occasional frustrations
which come from the fact that children simply
do not sit quietly and perform     assigned
tasks. . . . For childhood is an exploratory
time and the great energy of children propels
them into situations which may look frivolous
to more restrained adults, but which are the
sum  and substance of the child's learning
experience....
Obviously, this unstructured passion for all the
events in a child's world is regarded as unruly
and  disruptive, particularly in overcrowded
classrooms. I fear that there is a very great
temptation to diagnose the bored but bright
child as hyperactive, prescribe drugs, and thus
deny him full learning during his most crea-
tive years.
The situation which prompted Congressman Gallagher
to hold hearingsin 1970 has developed into a huge controversy
in educational, medical, and sociological circles. Some
educators and doctors believe that every child who can't (or
won't) sit still, who deviates from the norm (whatever that may
be), or who does not learn the prescribed subjects at the
expected rate, has some diagnosable disability which, once

JULY 1976

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most