The state legislature in Arizona is concerned enough about these drugs to put together a number of bills, which would require the informed consent of parents when schools or other government agencies wish to place their children on psychotropic drugs for behavioral reasons. The legislature also wants to require government authorities to give parents information about causal factors that may be contributing to behavioral problems. It seems that legislation such as this would serve to empower parents and assist them in making appropriate choices for their children's welfare. As it stands, in many cases the choice of whether or not a child will be placed on these highly dangerous drugs is not an option for parents, because provision of education is conditioned upon their acceptance of the diagnosis and antidepressant drug treatment. As a result, some children end up being force-fed drugs that are potentially addictive, may have detrimental side effects and may even create a hazard for those around them.
Modern society does indeed suffer from an illness, but it is a malady partly of our own making.
We have allowed ourselves to succumb to inconsistent and disordered thinking, spread by contact with less than objective media sources and dubious advice from questionable authorities. We have engaged in a thirty-year war on illegal drugs, spending billions of dollars a year to remove the scourge from our neighborhoods. Yet we have allowed drugs of a similar destructive nature to be dispensed to our children in hopes of promoting positive social skills and an enhanced educational experience. This approach will not cure our children's ills or those of society. It is time we rely on our own sensibilities, reevaluate the practice of medicating our youth and search for better alternatives.