5 ms·

This line of reasoning is why giving children (or anyone, really) medication for moderate behavioral problems is an ethical gray area. If there is a pill that h

This line of reasoning is why giving children (or anyone, really) medication for moderate behavioral problems is an ethical gray area. If there is a pill that helps an unruly-but-otherwise-healthy kid sit still and stay focused, do you have them take it? At what point does an element of your personality become a medical issue?

cvsh 9y ago
Also why are issues past an arbitrarily-drawn "medical" line the only ones we can treat via medication? No one thinks working out should be illegal. So why should doing the same thing via other means be illegal? Maybe it's the lingering Protestant-work-ethic-laced morality of the U.S., but we seem to be disproportionately likely to exaggerate the dangers of anything that seems like a drug, relative to things that don't seem like drugs (even when they clearly are -- i.e., alcohol).
- keganunderwood 9y ago
  Or sugar because apparently we don't need fructose in our diet at all.
FeepingCreature 9y ago
As a once-kid who was fundamentally incapable of paying attention to uninteresting topics for longer than about 30 seconds, I'd have loved to take that pill any day. It's not that I didn't care about paying attention, I really wanted to pay attention, it just wasn't happening. I think that's the difference - you wouldn't be forcing me to do something I didn't want to do, you'd be helping me do something I did want to do.
- wickawic 9y ago
  Yeah I understand there are benefits, and I didn't mean to make it sound like I am against medication. It is just interesting because our culture dictates what behaviors are successful, which in turn informs which behaviors are undesirable. In the end we medicate against unwanted behavior not for medical reasons but for cultural ones.
compel-respond 9y ago
I'm 28 and I'm still recovering from the stimulants I took to 'help me sit still' in school. It's part of my life's work to make sure that kind of drugging of children becomes a thing of the past. It's criminal. Can you imagine giving a child amphetamines to 'help' them in a non-coercive environment like a Sudbury School? https://ia801305.us.archive.org/19/items/TheSudburyValleySchoolExperience/TheSudburyValleySchoolExperience.pdf https://ia801305.us.archive.org/19/items/TheSudburyValleySch...
- pfisch 9y ago
  I have taken stimulants on and off through my life. I certainly don't need them, but it is very unlikely I would own a tech company if I hadn't taken them. They have almost certainly improved my life immensely.
  - darklajid 9y ago
    The GP said 'during school', so I assume it wasn't voluntary and instead something they had to do. In your post you talk about on and off and don't give us any insight whether you (always? most of the time?) made that decision yourself.
- Beltiras 9y ago
  Are you against any and all use of methylphenidate?
  - compel-respond 9y ago
    I'm against giving addictive pharmaceuticals to children as a solution to structural problems in compulsory schooling. Consenting adults should be able to make their own choices.

cvsh 9y ago

Also why are issues past an arbitrarily-drawn "medical" line the only ones we can treat via medication? No one thinks working out should be illegal. So why should doing the same thing via other means be illegal? Maybe it's the lingering Protestant-work-ethic-laced morality of the U.S., but we seem to be disproportionately likely to exaggerate the dangers of anything that seems like a drug, relative to things that don't seem like drugs (even when they clearly are -- i.e., alcohol).

keganunderwood 9y ago
Or sugar because apparently we don't need fructose in our diet at all.

FeepingCreature 9y ago

As a once-kid who was fundamentally incapable of paying attention to uninteresting topics for longer than about 30 seconds, I'd have loved to take that pill any day. It's not that I didn't care about paying attention, I really wanted to pay attention, it just wasn't happening. I think that's the difference - you wouldn't be forcing me to do something I didn't want to do, you'd be helping me do something I did want to do.

wickawic 9y ago
Yeah I understand there are benefits, and I didn't mean to make it sound like I am against medication. It is just interesting because our culture dictates what behaviors are successful, which in turn informs which behaviors are undesirable. In the end we medicate against unwanted behavior not for medical reasons but for cultural ones.

compel-respond 9y ago

I'm 28 and I'm still recovering from the stimulants I took to 'help me sit still' in school. It's part of my life's work to make sure that kind of drugging of children becomes a thing of the past. It's criminal. Can you imagine giving a child amphetamines to 'help' them in a non-coercive environment like a Sudbury School? https://ia801305.us.archive.org/19/items/TheSudburyValleySchoolExperience/TheSudburyValleySchoolExperience.pdf https://ia801305.us.archive.org/19/items/TheSudburyValleySch...

pfisch 9y ago
I have taken stimulants on and off through my life. I certainly don't need them, but it is very unlikely I would own a tech company if I hadn't taken them. They have almost certainly improved my life immensely.
- darklajid 9y ago
  The GP said 'during school', so I assume it wasn't voluntary and instead something they had to do. In your post you talk about on and off and don't give us any insight whether you (always? most of the time?) made that decision yourself.
Beltiras 9y ago
Are you against any and all use of methylphenidate?
- compel-respond 9y ago
  I'm against giving addictive pharmaceuticals to children as a solution to structural problems in compulsory schooling. Consenting adults should be able to make their own choices.