Misuse or abuse over-prescription of Ritalin is widespread. Literature supporting that claim abounds. Such a variation in usage rate, alone, makes the validity of the drug's application suspect and indicates gross misuse and abuse as well as lack of good judgement on the part of physicians. Perhaps, the most alarming statistic is the fact that Ritalin is prescribed far more frequently for boys than it is for girls. According to one study, three to four times more boys than girls take the drug under doctors' orders.
Indications are that some other factors influence the discrepancy.
In the politically correct society of today, boys are no longer allowed to be boys. Their unpolished boyish behaviour must be tempered, their restlessness must be calmed, and their attentiveness to the teacher must be enhanced. Today, an overwhelming majority of grade-school teachers are women. Schools no longer have male role models for the boys, and churlish boy-type behaviour is no longer understood or tolerated. It is now seen as symptomatic of a violent personality or labeled as a learning disability in need of Ritalin treatment.