ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kid's Grades, Studies find

[Jon]

 Published by the Wall Street Journal today, 7/9/2013, a June study looked at medication usage and educational outcomes of nearly 4,000 students in Quebec over an average of 11 years and found that boys who took ADHD drugs actually performed worse in school than those with a similar number of symptoms who didn't. Girls taking the medicine reported more emotional problems, according to a working paper published on the website of the National Bureau of Economic Reserch, a non-profit economics research firm.

 

They state that the possibility that medication won't help them in school needs to be acknowledged and closley monitored.

 

A link to the WSJ article and a video is listed below:  I hope it works.

 

http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news-lifestyle-arts-entertainment.html

 

Sorry folks.  It looks like the link takes you to the current WSJ (Personal Journal) of the day. The jist of the article, I think, is summerized above. I also think that it's something we are all aware of. The pill doesn't make you any smarter at all. The best it can lay claim to is it can make you into a fuel-fed engine providing endurance, as long as you keep feeding it.

[LILTEX41]

LOVE IT! It's about time they do a study like this!

[Jon]

Thanks Erin. I think you are incredible.

[BeHereNow]

I like that this undermines the usual idea that ADHD drugs help academically.   The findings don't surprise me-- I do think we are ALL smarter when we're not taking these meds--  but I'm so happy to see this backed by studies!  Thank you for sharing!

[Krax]

there is a deeper and more ingrained problem, however, that you all are not considering:  there is a large proportion of school age children that due to biological (i.e. drug affected) and environmental factors are disruptive and whose behavior impairs the educational experience of other students and the teachers.  I don't know but suspect that these children are the reason ADHD medicaions (primarily amphetamines) are so largely prescribed for children.  Take that away and the larger problem already existing manifests itself. Due to Constitutional issues schools can't just immediately remove children from classrooms anymore. It isn't just whether these drugs are good or bad for the individual.  

[Jon]

_{Food for thought about education: Two excellent TED talks by Ken Robinson.}

 

_{Ken Robinson: How to escape education's death valley.}

_{http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley.html}

 

_{Ken Robinson: Schools Kill Creativity.}

_{http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html}