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Nearly
everyone has heard of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD) and probably knows a child who has it. This isn’t surprising
since approximately six million children, or two per every classroom,
are currently taking stimulants to modify behavior. It is also
likely that many have been in heated debates about ADHD and
medication. Are doctors too quick to prescribe medication? Are
we replacing discipline with medication? Will medication change
a child’s personality? Are the pharmaceutical companies unfairly
promoting the use of Ritalin and Adderall?
Medicating Kids is an
emotionally hard-hitting piece of journalism that touches on
all the questions listed above. FRONTLINE followed four families
in Denver, Colorado, each one with a child diagnosed with ADHD,
for one year. They received access to doctors, psychiatrists,
teachers, family, and most importantly, the children. The program
also takes a look at pharmaceutical companies who hire doctors
to promote their products, and anti-medication groups who deny
the existence of ADHD.
The portrait of Alex McCarty,
a depressed child with suicidal tendencies, is particularly
moving. Alex is an articulate 12-year old, and it is bewildering
to learn that he worries over issues such as whether he will
find a steady job when he grows up or wind up living in a dumpster.
Antidepressants had been prescribed, but the problem escalated
until he attempted suicide at school. Part of the difficulty
with diagnosing ADHD is that it is often coupled with other
disorders. This is true in Alex’s case. He is one of the 18%
of those whose ADHD is combined with depression. Once he began
taking Adderall for ADHD, his depression lifted and his school
performance improved. Alex, after years of frustration, began
to feel good about what he could accomplish during a school
day.
The story of 16-year old Robin
Day is much less conclusive. He began to take Ritalin in the
4th grade, but the positive affects had faded two
years later. He would switch to a number of other medications,
quit taking them altogether, and be forced by a court, at his
mother’s urging, to resume his Adderall prescription. While
the benefits of medication appear mixed in Robin’s case, family
instability seems to have exasperated the situation. This inadvertently
brings up the question of how the stability of a family affects
a child with ADHD, or, how a child with ADHD affects his family.
In this particular case, the viewer simply lacks enough evidence
to know. As the filming ends, Robin’s mother, Barb, is moving
out of the Day home. Even though Robin had been doing better,
this seems to leave his future very much in doubt, and it is
one of the more poignant moments in Medicating Kids.
FRONTLINE also takes a look at
the advocate groups on both sides of the medication issue. Shire
Richwood, the manufacture of Adderall, clearly has a stake in
whether or not their stimulant is prescribed. The organization
hires doctors like Bill Dodson to promote their product, and
donates money to organizations like CHADD (Children and Adults
with Attention Deficit Disorder) to help raise ADHD awareness.
On the other side of the aisle are the Church of Scientology
and school board members like Denver’s Patti Johnson. Both believe
that children are being over medicated, perhaps for a non-existent
disorder. Unfortunately, it is the parents, guardians, and the
children who are caught in-between. They need answers and treatments,
not political positions or the company line.
Medicating Kids is a penetrating
examination that doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. Two
of the children followed in this film were clearly helped by
medication; one family opted to spend more time with their child
as opposed to medication; and one family took a mixed approach
with mixed results. Even when medication does work, no one knows
why. Still, any parent, teacher, or professional will gain a
better understanding of all sides of this controversial issue
from this program. FRONTLINE also gives ADHD a human face. Some
doctors, teachers, and parents may be too quick to medicate
children. Others, too slow. The issue—finally—isn’t really about
pharmaceuticals, protesters, or even about whether or not to
medicate. Instead, the issue centers on how to help individual
children with ADHD function effectively and successfully in
our society.
Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.
doanechristine@msn.com
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